Christmas music played in the next room. I bent to pick up another bag. This one had baby socks. I carried them past the radio now playing one of the Beach Boys’ Christmas albums. I plopped the bag of socks into one of many cardboard boxes lined with the other baby items. Back in the other room I bent to grab the next thing to distribute. Maybe some shoes or a toy. A man appeared in the sunlight of the propped open door. I was the closest to him so I stopped midway to my target and met him halfway into the room instead. He thrust a white box at me. “It’s a full Wii set. The remotes, a guitar, the drums, everything.” I gave a Wow big enough to appreciate his grand gesture. And grand it was. It was a sacrifice no doubt, but one he seemed happy to take. He turned to get the rest of the promised items and I spun to thrust the box in another volunteer’s face. “I FULL Wii set.” The whites of her eyes registered the same surprise and glee. The man left along with many thanks. I picked up where I had left, finding a Thomas Kinkade puzzle. Off to the puzzle cardboard box I went. I bent, shuffling the overflowing box around so this one would fit. The small particles of cardboard from the boxes of puzzles began to fill the air but the dust wasn’t to blame for the tears in my eyes. It was the deep soul-satisfying feeling that in our giving of prized possessions and borrowed time, a child would know that he was loved. And that not only he would be pleased, but He would be pleased.
Acts 4:32-34 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.