Christmas Morning Imagined

Christmas morning a 13-year-old girl somewhere in Hunterdon County opened her Christmas gifts. Her eyes widened with pleasure when she saw a collection of makeup and a glittery outfit of tights and a top – two items on her wish list. Her younger brother, a 3-year-old boy, opened a Monster Machine truck. I imagine them saying “Just what I wanted!” with huge smiles on their faces. At the same time, in another household, a 6-year-old girl unwrapped a beautiful doll who looked a lot like her. And in yet another household, a young mother watched with delight as her one-year-old son opened a Mickey Mouse (who he loves) toy and her 2-year-old daughter opened a Dory fleece blanket.

I imagine all the parents of all the children in the three families we at Unity Spiritual Center adopted wrapping these items at night after the kids were asleep. (That’s why we donate unwrapped gifts and wrapping paper.) The next morning colorful wrapped presents appeared under their family Christmas trees.

I wasn’t there to actually see these sights, yet I believe that’s what happened this Christmas.

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A recent Daily Word was “Giving.” The affirmation was:

Through giving, I receive.

One of the favorite parts of my job at Unity is to contribute to our quarterly service projects. This year’s Giving Tree fell at a time when I was going to be out of town visiting my mom in Illinois. We only had one week to make this project happen this year.

I’ve always known that I don’t do the Giving Tree by myself. This year is living proof of that. I was able to type up the gift requests before I left. Rebecca, my dear co-worker, then stepped in. She and her daughter Ryli made the gift tags; Rebecca created the display just outside of our Fellowship kitchen on Sunday, December 4.

The gifts for “our” three families were due back on the following Sunday, December 11, so we could comply with  the United Way of Hunterdon County Helping Hands program’s request that all gifts be delivered to them in Flemington on Monday, December 12.

Then our wonderful, generous Unity family made it work. I returned from a great week with my mom to learn that all 29 tags had been taken, except one - for me. Gailann Bruen and I organized all the donated gifts into three family bags after the December 11 Sunday service. Driving those bags to Flemington to the United Way office gave me great pleasure.

I don’t know the names of everyone who gave gifts. It’s not important that I do. What is important for me, and for all of us, is to believe in those Christmas scenes above – we helped make them happen - and to believe that when we all pitch in, when we all give, a wonderful thing happens: we receive far more than we give.

Through giving, I receive.

And I am grateful.

~ JEAN

Chalkboard Wall

Recently, my daughter Ryli and I painted a 4-foot X 6-foot chalkboard square on one of the walls in our dining room.  We were getting tired of staring at the big, blank expanse of green nothingness and so, on a shoestring budget, decided to make do with the chalkboard paint we had purchased several months earlier to fill the space. 

This chalkboard wall has turned into quite the creative palette for our family.  Ryli – being the most

arts-and-craftsy of the group - designed the first couple of boards, and at Christmas time we turned the space into a giant Advent calendar.  My favorite board so far, though, is the 2017 goals and intentions board we created for the New Year.  Each family member took the time to think of several intentions that he or she has for 2017, and in no time we had filled the board with a beautiful, colorful collage of words and phrases that best represent what is most important to our family.

Looking at the board, I can see each family member’s personality coming through in the lines of chalk on the black.  Ryli’s intentions revolve around her physical space and a sense of connection: stay organized, host more events, read, take up a new hobby, host our second annual backyard concert.  Evan’s intentions revolve around his physical health and academic achievement: gain 15 pounds, eat healthier, start yoga, get all A’s and B’s in Physics.  He also contributed a couple of new family adventures to the list: go to Knoebel's, tube down the Delaware.  The one intention Avery wrote down reflects his passion for the arts combined with his current feeling of overwhelm at the prospect of graduating high school and contemplating what’s next: go to college or start performing – it almost feels as if it should be read as a question. Dave’s intentions reflect his love of nature and music: gig more, go on seven backpacking trips.  And my intentions reflect my ongoing aim to slow down and be more mindful:  hydrate, be present, play more, less screen time.

Seeing the desires of my loved ones so clearly expressed all in one place fills my heart and makes me wish that I could hold on to this moment in time when we are still all together under one roof.  When it's time to change the board, we will capture all of our goals on a piece of paper to be posted on the refrigerator where we will see them each day and can keep them in mind as the year unfolds.  
~Rebecca