My dad wasn’t a huge Christmas fan. He wasn’t Scrooge, but neither was he a barrel of festive laughs. For him, it was all about reaching out to the lonely, ensuring no one felt overlooked or neglected.
My parents wrote over a hundred cards every year. Some went in the post box, but if we could hand-deliver them, we did. After tea on dark December evenings, Dad and I would climb into his works van and drive around the neighbourhood delivering cards and small gifts. He planned our circuit and organised the pile of cards accordingly. It was my job to hand them over at each stop so Dad could play Postman Jeffrey and slip them through the relevant doors.
We didn’t have time to visit everyone, but if the recipient of the card was a widow or just someone who lived on their own, we gladly accepted their invitation to go inside for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Dad bought potted plants to cheer the homes of Auntie Penny who lived with chronic arthritis, and Auntie Peggy who hardly ever had visitors. Although they weren’t blood relatives, my father’s huge heart had welcomed them as part of our extended family.
In return for the cards they sent, my parents had a huge pile of their own. I loved admiring the colourful display. My mother strung them around the house throughout the festive season. After Christmas, she took them to be recycled.
A greeting on a Christmas card is a tiny thing, but it is one way to show we care, to simply say, “I’m thinking of you.” It is an avenue for extending the love of our Saviour, who never neglects or forgets his lonely and hurting children.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, please help us not to overlook the small things this Christmas time. Help us to value one another as you do. May we remember that a simple greeting on a card or a chat over the phone can have a huge impact on a lonely person.
Song: Christmas Card by Steven Curtis Chapman.
Scriptures to ponder.
Psalm 68: 6: “God places the lonely in families;”
James 1: 27: “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”