a real Christmas

today was another fantastic day!

i was talking to someone today who made a very good point. if the news was our only sorce of information about the reality of the world we live in, it would be pretty dire. it only ever seems to show all the bad stuff.

of which there is a lot.

but there is also an awful lot of good in the world. there are a lot of good people out there and a lot of very generous people.

i helped to organise Christmas presents for the guys we go see on the mobile soup kitchen and was staggered by the amount of generosity i saw. people who showed what Christmas is really about. even though financially people are feeling a strain here, they still gave to those who are less fortunate than themselves.

everybody on our list got a personalised gift bag full of winter supplies and ontop of that, people brought in about the same amount again in extras, just incase anyone was missed out.

it wasn't until i was pulling it all together this week that i realised just how much stuff had been donated.

so today we got to do the fun part!

the snow's really bad and the temperature was low, but it's days like this that motivate you to go out even more than sunny ones, realising that people live outside in this. (and feeling a little guilt at struggling to feel my toes despite several layers ontop of thermals.)

i had the job of finding and organising gift bags (since i pretty much recognised the bags and names by heart by this point) out of the side of the van and to say that people were thankful was an understatement.

i felt like santa clause (although didn't like that i was being thanked for what other people had done, i'd only organised it) people couldn't believe that they were getting presents and were, even if for a second, like wide-eyed innocent children.

i got to talk to almost everyone today, and i loved that we knew each other by this point (a lot of them joking with me about the fact that i didn't have a camera today - i had to have free hands for climbing into vans sorting presents.) a couple of the older guys who i have a particular soft spot for gave me a hug and were speachless, tears in their eyes.

two people in particular really struck me, encompassing the entirity of the feedback we got.

the first was a homeless lady who on recieving her bag said how that was the only present she would get this Christmas. she's litterally on her own.

the other was a man at the last stop we visit. he's a kind gentle guy who will have a laugh with you but doesn't like to impose himself. he took the bag, thanked us and then left.
a few minutes later he runs out possing all over the place and exclaiming how great he looks in his fantastic new jumper. he couldn't believe that he's got something so great.

to me it was a just a jumper. to him it was so much more.

i had such a great time today! in theory it was hard work, and it took my toes a good hour to get the feeling back, but it really didn't matter a bit cos this is exactly what christmas is all about. cos this is exactly what jesus was born for.