Ever since nearly losing my life two years ago in a house fire, I have tried to reach out to others who are in need, particularly around Christmas.  I figure since God wanted me around for a while longer, it was the least I could do in order to thank Him for sparing my life ... and the lives of my family.

Yes, we did end up losing our home, our possessions, and one of our cats (our Maine Coon, "Chauncey", perished in the fire), but the fact was this: our home, possessions, and yes, even our cat, could be replaced.  Human lives could not.  (We've since gotten another Maine Coon to replace Chauncey, but we still miss him; guess we always will.  We have named him Chauncey II.  Even resembles him.)

This year for Christmas, we (meaning my family and myself) went to the local homeless shelter where we distributed gifts we had made with our own two hands and sang Christmas carols.  The residents truly appreciated our thinking of them and blessing them with song and gifts; it made us feel good too.  We know that there are so many people who are so much worse off than us, and it made us realize just how blessed we truly are.

The kids are learning about goodwill and helping others, and as for the wife and myself, we are learning about doing God's work and preaching His message of hope and salvation as only we can do.

We ended up having a wonderful Christmas this year.  Seems hard to believe that Christmas has already ended, but has it really?? I mean, we can share the true meaning of Christmas not only at Christmas, but all year long.  We try to have Christmas in our hearts and we find that it truly does help keep our attitudes in check.  So this is why we do it ... and enjoy it.

~To be continued.~