The Warmth of Christmas Love
Santa showed up!
When you google “CHRISTMAS WARMTH,” you receive a list of websites around the country reporting temperatures which are too warm for the season. The warmth we’ve experienced at Mission Arlington®, however, has nothing to do with the weather. Rather, it refers to the way the people’s hearts have been impacted here.
Volunteers were touched: Hundreds of energetic and caring volunteers were here every day through the Christmas season. Teams of people worked diligently to get gifts in place for the opening day of our Christmas Store. From opening to close, volunteers served in the Store helping shoppers find gifts for their children. One dad returned in tears to speak with a staff member. His question: “Why is it that I feel I am more blessed than the people needing help?” His heart had been touched by the experience.
Volunteers wrapping gifts in the Christmas Store
You gave compassionately: It takes thousands and thousands of toys to provide for a community like this, and you made it happen. You dug deep, giving sacrificially, filling up the toy store again and again, yet you made it look effortless. Only warm and kind-hearted people have this kind of spirit.
The joy of giving back: This year, many of our donors stopped to tell us that they had been recipients of gifts from the store many years before, and now they were here to give back. More than once, their eyes moistened with tears when they shared that news. One man had two tragedies in his family over a three year period many years ago. The Mission had stepped in to help his family “back then,” but now he was here – for the second year in a row – helping others to be ok. You could hear the emotion in his voice as he explained why he wouldn’t “give anywhere else.”
A passion for people: When people don’t care, we often describe them as “cold-hearted.” It is easy enough to care for family and friends, but not for people we don’t know. Yet, this community shows up in force to care for people in need, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because, as one mother said: “it warms my children’s hearts” when they serve.
The radiant face of a child: On Christmas morning, the reports of warm glows on the faces of children is a direct reflection of a community’s passion to care. It’s a smile which adults recall even years later.
The Love of the Father: We pray that all of this reflects the passion of our heavenly Father who loved the world so much that he gave His only son – so that all who believe in Him can have eternal life. This passion also flows from a Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who left his heavenly throne to be born in a manger and ultimately pay the debt of our sin on the cross. May His passion for people always be ours.
