Growing up in the Lopina house we had our own beliefs and traditions at Christmas. When I was 4 or 5, I can recall my mom hanging stockings on the banister Christmas Eve. Christmas morning we’d find it filled with candies and miniature toys. I remember Mom doing this no more than three times before we began attending the church where I grew up. The influence of waist-tight teachings from my home congregation has greatly shaped my understanding of Christmas. Every since my family began attending church at home, our family Christmas traditions changed. Instead of Christmas trees and Santa Clauses, we spend Christmas as a family gathered around the table enjoying Filipino dishes. The only times I would enjoy the receiving and giving of gifts was in the school where teachers require you to do it.
Despite our personal beliefs about Christmas, there is one fact we cannot dismiss. Today, the world is overloaded with Christmas festivities through influence of television and the internet. That is a fact! A handful of devout men from the strictest teachings may build up a fortress of beliefs against the celebration of December 25. As long as the influence of today's world endures, their fortress is sure to be trampled. Instead of putting up a wall, we as Christians can start to divert/channel the focus from Santa Claus to magnifying Jesus; to emphasizing love and a festivity of gift giving!
Since every December I have come to enjoy the blessing of receiving gifts, I wanted to make a commitment of sharing that blessing to others. I wanted to bless the members of Naga through buying gifts for each family. I was so excited about this idea that I could not wait to tell Andrea. To my surprise, she told me one evening that she wanted to not only do something for the kids at Naga but also the members. We could not believe that each had the same idea; eventhough, this is not the first time this has happened. We were so excited that we spent an hour or two talking about what to get and how we wanted to give them. The more we talked the more we could already picture the joy on the member's faces. In the end, we decided on food baskets. In each basket we put noodles, sardines, milk, fruits, fruit cocktail, cream, spaghetti, cheese, and soft drinks! It would be a perfect gift for the holiday! The best thing about it is no one expected a gift. So we were very sure the surprise would be an added bonus to the food basket!
The following week my buddy and I headed out to the supermarket to shop for the gift packs. Two guys in a supermarket alone might not have been the best idea. Andrea should have been the one with the list while I pushed the cart up and down the aisles. Since she was on her way back home, Fred and I did the marketing. Nonetheless, I had fun! We had a cartload of everything! When we got back to the church we wrapped it up nicely with a letter of encouragement and a booklet either by Max Lucado or Beth Moore. I could not think of a better gift than a basket both for the soul and body!
Delivery day came. We were anxious and had been looking forward to this day since Andrea and I had shared the idea. On our way to each house, the neighbors couldn't help but look at us with a very curious look. Maybe they were wondering why these boys were smiling ear to ear or maybe they were wondering why would these two young guys come bearing gifts. Whatever they were thinking didn't matter to us because we were focused on making this the best Christmas ever for the members. Every time we got to a house we'd give the gift in a different way. Sometimes we’d start a conversation and get the members excited for a certain topic, and then we’d suddenly pull out the food basket from our knapsack. And other times we’d start by either reading or giving the letter of encouragement, and then pull out the surprise. Which ever way we'd do it there was always the same priceless smile which painted their faces. It’s like the facial tissues were stuck in that position the entire time we were in their home. Of course these gifts were not from me or Fred or Andrea, but instead we made sure they knew these gifts were from God and the church.
Gifts are always a two way blessing! It blesses both the receiver and the giver! Giving of gifts is never meant to satisfy the ego of the giver. We do not give gifts to pat ourselves on the backs. Instead we give gifts to bless someone and to make them feel loved. This is the true sense of Christ-mas as He chose to be born, to bless us and make us feel loved by the Divine!
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