The Christmas Envelope

A wonderful story.


This is what I am doing for my Grandchildren and the rest of the family, for the children in SACU, from their Christmas wish list which I think I've attached. From $5, $10 and up. Thank you Shirley R. for passing this beautiful story on to me. Jesus is the reason for the season!!!

Spread the word.

God Bless.




The Christmas Envelope


> Author: Unknown

>

> It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our

> Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked

> through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

>

> It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true

> meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it. Overspending --

> the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry

> and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation

> because you couldn't think of anything else.

>

> Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,

> sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for

> Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

>

> Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at

> the school he attended, and shortly before Christmas, there was a

> non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly

> black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings

> seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp

> contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling

> new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the

> other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed

> to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously

> could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them, taking every weight

> class. As each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in

> his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't

> acknowledge defeat.

>

> Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, I wish just one of them

> could have won; he said. They have a lot of potential, but losing like

> this could take the heart right out of them. Mike loved kids-all kids-and

> he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and

> lacrosse.

>

> That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a

> local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear

> and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas

> Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what

> I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest

> thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

>

> For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group

> of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check

> to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week

> before Christmas, and on and on.

>

> The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last

> thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new

> toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the

> envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, toys

> gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its

> allure.

>

> The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to

> dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in

> grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an

> envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

>

> Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on

> the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand

> even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with

> wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.

> Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

>

> May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true

> Christmas spirit this year and always.

>

> “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and

> shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For

> with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you

> again.” - Luke 6:38