I get a list of who is in the family and their ages.
I then sit down with my children now 9 and 10 and we work up gift ideas for that family.
Last year we adopted a family of six for Christmas that the husband lost his job and the wife had to go into the hospital for a heart attack along with diabetes.
These people were truly in dire straits.
After brainstorming for gift ideas we bought each one of the four children new coats, jeans, shirts, socks and underwear.
We then got the two little girls big huggable bears and the boys remote controlled trucks.
The Mother and Father got a gift certificate from Penny's.
I had gone by the couples house several days before Christmas and had told them that I had drawn their name from the local Baptists church and would be bringing a gift for the children on Christmas day.
When I went to the door Christmas day we brought in several arm loads of presents and bags of groceries.
The mother asked us to sit down and watch as the children opened their presents.
As the kids opened their presents one by one the mother began to sob and soon all of us had tears.
I truly felt blessed by God that we had taken part of our Christmas budget and shared it with a deserving family.
The lesson learned by my children from that Christmas will live long with them.
God bless to all and a Merry Christmas.
Truly a warm and kind thing to do.
I did much the same for Thanksgiving. Watching a tiny six year old girl trying to drag the frozen turkey into the house was hilarious... thunk... thunk... thunk... up the steps!
Before my wife passed, there was hardly a year when we wouldn’t adopt a family. But my faith has suffered very much since then, and the bitterness is almost overwhelming.
Bless you and your spirit. And a fine lesson for your children.