Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sharing Gifts, the Gospel and Love for Christmas








This Christmas season I felt especially blessed with temporal needs (food, clothing, finances), the gospel and love (from family and friends, most of all Brittney). I felt a great desire to share these three things with as many people as I could. It is not appropriate for me to share all the experiences I had, but I felt the Lord guided me in who I could help and how.


Brittney bought me too many presents for Christmas. I felt like a little kid again as I opened Lincoln logs, a wooden train, and the snap pants I've been asking for since last Christmas as well as CDs and books. I gave Brittney wooden spoons, a mixing bowl, a deep skillet, running pants, the game Life on the Farm, and Santa Claus brought us a toy dairy farm set and Illinois pullovers. Just a comment about the wooden spoons. I knew Brittney wanted some more of them, so I went out and got some for her the Monday before Thanksgiving to give her for Christmas. Two days later we were having a conversation and Brittney mentioned something she was thinking of buying, and I told her not to buy anything for herself during the month before Christmas, because someone might be giving it to her for Christmas. The very next day she went out and bought herself some wooden spoons because she needed them for our Thanksgiving dinner. I laughed so hard; I had to explain to her why, even though it spoiled the surprise.

Brittney signed up to take dinner to a couple people in our ward who were unable to leave their houses on Christmas. I invited some people from my lab and other friends over for Christmas dinner. I was worried how we would be good hosts and take out the meals while it was still hot, until finally it dawned on me that we could have our guests go with us to take the meals out. We had a feast, then I took Ming Feng and Yaodong, both from China, and Andulfo, from Hondorus with me, and Brittney took the Jacks with her to deliver the meals. We tried singing "Jingle Bells" at the house I went to, it was a humble version with only one native singer. It was a good experience though for everyone. When we got home, we all played Life on the Farm, and Dr. Ming Feng won. It was a great Christmas.

1 comments:

Rawlings Family

What fun presents! What wonderful people to share what you have with others. You two are wonderful.