An emotional weekend

You’ll remember in my last post I very briefly mentioned that Santa had made an early appearance at our house.  I just never told you the story behind it.  Are you ready?  I don’t know how ready I am to tell it because I am afraid I’ll cry… again. 

But it’s a story that simply MUST be told because it’s a story about real life and real angels and real people. 

Anthony and I have struggled.  Our marriage, our faith, our family, our spirituality, our emotional well-being, and our hope have all been tested over the years.  How?  Mostly financially. 

We’ve been married for 11 years now and I would say that our financial status as a whole over the years has not been anything for anyone to be envious of.  We had almost two years of financial comfort when Anthony first started his construction company back in 2005.  Then the economy took a dive.  Other than that, we’ve had years that were hard but manageable, and we’ve had years that we just didn’t know how we were going to make it.  The past few years have been really rough. 

Christmas seems to sneak up on us every year and it’s a fight to make sure Santa shows up.  We’ve had many ‘angels’ come to the rescue over the years.  It’s never something we solicit for.  I believe that there are certain people in our lives at certain times for a reason.  And I believe that when people are in tune with the spirit, they just know when there is a need.  And often, we don’t even know who these angels are.  They give of themselves anonymously.  I can’t tell you how grateful we are to them!  ALL of them!

We are usually able to provide something for the kids.  It’s just not much and maybe not what they really wanted.  (Either kids are asking for more expensive things these days or things are just more expensive than they used to be.)  That is where these Christmas angels come to the rescue and make it all happen!  Somehow, the kids all end up with at least one main toy on their list.  I always tell them that Santa decides what he thinks will be best for them.  He can’t give them every big item on their lists. 

But anyway, this year was another one of those years that we worried and wondered how we would make it happen.  Anthony was working as an insurance agent for about a year and a half when the company he was with raised their rates and people stopped buying.  Even veteran agents were having a hard time.  So, when the money stopped coming in, we came to the realization that it wasn’t going to get any better any time soon.  He quit and now works as a framer, again (his true dream job! – seriously… he’s done it for so many years, he absolutely loves it!).  The pay is better than the commission he was earning as an agent but still not enough to stay on top of everything. 

Still, we were determined to do Christmas on our own.  We’d been helped in the past but couldn’t let it happen this year.  We just couldn’t! 

Then Santa showed up this past Friday around 8:00 in the evening.

With presents!

 

And a letter saying something like (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t have it right here in front of me):

Santa heard that you were worried he might not show up this year so I stopped by early so you can stop worrying.  I only do this with special families…….

It goes on and says to continue praying and doing the things we should be doing.  I’ll have to pull the letter out tomorrow…

It was signed from Santa.

It was really neat.  It made me cry!  Unfortunately, the girls were not at home when he came.  

I have no idea who sent Santa to my house but I want to let you all know that I have a true testimony of angels living here on this earth!  Mortal angels!  They have come to my rescue as Christmas angels many times over and I can’t thank them enough for that.  They’ve even come at other times of the year. 

We may not have the rich things of this world.  We may not be able to do a lot of the recreational activities that so many other families are able to participate in (like movies, amusement parks, etc.) but my kids are happy.  They love the gospel of Jesus Christ and they love each other (even if they fight way too much!). 

We have learned so much from these trials that we have gone through.  We wouldn’t be who we are today without them.  They’re not easy, and they’re not always fun but they sure do help us to grow. 

And someday… SOMEDAY… we are going to be able to pay it forward.  We will!  Anthony and I both look forward to that day when we can pray to find another family to reach out and help for Christmas.  For now we’ll have to help in other ways.  In service.  But someday…