My family and I were invited to attend an event in Portland at the Keller Auditorium called the Singing Christmas Tree. It is a large tree-shaped platform with a choir of people standing and singing Christmas songs. This year, one of Jordan's nurses participated in the choir and convinced the director to use one of the songs as a tribute to Jordan. While the nurse, Natalie, read a poem and the choir sang, pictures of Jordan and our family played larger than life on two gigantic screens. It was moving and meaningful and one more small example of the power love has. It is also one of my favorite memories of any Christmas season and I hope to be able to find ways that I can use my talents and resources, whatever they may be, to bless the lives of others in need.
One way we are planning to do that this year as a family is to do 12-days of giving, where our children have come up with 12 ideas for helping others. Some of these include going to a grocery store and buying groceries for the next person in line, writing letters to missionaries from our area, and many others.
I know from experience that my children will not remember any of the gifts we might give them this year, but they will never forget gifts of love they give to others. After all, giving gifts to those in need is what Christmas is really for.
