I couldn’t help but notice the ornament in the Hallmark store. “Baby’s First Christmas” read the white cursive letters across the top of the ball, a brightly-lit Christmas tree surrounded by toys stood in the background. My husband, Rich, and I were new parents to our daughter, Andrea. What a perfect way to mark her first Christmas! I looked at the price: five dollars. Even that was too much to spend on something we didn’t really need.
The year before had started out promising. We had bought a house and, shortly after, found out I was pregnant. We were thrilled! But a month later, I lost my job. Now we were struggling to pay the bills, and were all alone in a new neighborhood where we didn’t know a soul.
I spent what I could on Christmas gifts in order to give at least something to our family. Whenever I thought about the ornament, though, I was disappointed. Yet, even praying about wanting this Christmas to be special felt more like whining to God about how things just weren’t going my way.
A few days before Christmas we were hit with a snowstorm. While Andrea slept and Rich was at work, I shoveled our driveway. All of a sudden, a voice rose above the blustery wind.
“Yoohoo! Over here!”
It was my neighbor Pauline. We’d only exchanged a hello or two over our fences before. What would make her come outside in this weather? I wondered.
She trudged through the heavy snow and headed toward our yard. I met her halfway.
“This is just a little something,” she said, handing me a small box.
“Thank you,” I said. “You shouldn’t have.”
What a nice neighbor we had! Whether the box held Christmas cookies or a festive candle didn’t matter. It was just the reminder I needed that blessings were all around us.
Back inside, I opened the box. It was more than a little something. A Hallmark ornament, “Baby’s First Christmas.”
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