Fact: Everyone hasn’t arrived yet.

If you have arrived like so many people around me, you may have forgotten. You may have forgotten how it feels to not have every need met. You may not remember how it feels for your tummy to not just rumble for 30 minutes or so but to be in rage for hours and hours.

To have arrived, I believe this group of individuals includes those that are living on a level they weren’t raised on. And that can mean different things to different people. But to simplify it, if you grew up in poverty or the lower class where there was always more month left after the money was gone; but now you are blessed to pay all of your bills and have leftovers…you have arrived.

I can’t say I grew up in poverty. But my family was on the lower side of middle class. From my perspective back then, without knowledge of the real situation, both of my parents worked and were able to provide for us. We had what we needed. I’ve never witnessed anything being reprocessed nor an eviction. But I also can’t say we had a vast amount of luxuries either.

I didn’t have a closet full of clothes but I had enough and they were decent, no name brands. I wasn’t showered with shoes just because they were cute. We went clothes shopping at the beginning of a school year and got more at Christmas time or birthdays. My family made do with what we had.

But I can recall times of me going back and forth opening the refrigerator doors and cabinets to see if anything changed. I don’t know why I did this but maybe I’d see something different the next time or maybe an idea of a meal I could create would come to my imagination. I don’t know but it surely didn’t magically fill up by reopening it.

I can also recall this one Christmas when Santa didn’t come. I believe I was in middle school at the time. Usually, and I grabbed this tradition from my mom, she’d wait until the night before or a couple nights before and put the gifts under the tree. I wait until Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep to fill our tree with gifts. But that year, I recalled from previous years she was a little early so I assumed she wanted to pull an ‘Eve’ surprise. Until I woke up the next morning…

Now that I have arrived and I work with and hang around others that have arrived, it’s so easy to forget that everyone hasn’t made it to their destinations yet. It’s so easy to get the letters to Santa and fulfill them with great joy. But I’m reminded that there are so many others that aren’t afforded this opportunity.

Many of us arrivers get amnesia and believe that if a person can’t afford certain gifts then those kids just have to do without. Or we feel that if their grades or behavior isn’t stellar, those kids don’t deserve such requested gifts. Well rather as a parent, if I’ve arrived or not, I can speak for most of us and say that none of that matters when it comes to matters of the heart.

Tis is a season of love and giving. Pause…I’m not crazy. If you know me, I’m very spiritual and know the true meaning. And I do realize how this has turned into a commercialized season to the extreme! Just like birthdays, Valentine’s, 1st day of college football, 1st day of school…just like the rest of them. This world has created social activities for us all to enjoy so there.

But at Christmas time, every parent wants to put a smile on their child’s face, period. Every parent wants to be able to fulfill not only needs but wants of their children under all circumstances. And when they can’t, many are devastated.

”Tis is the season of love and joy but it is also a season of desperation and depression. Everyone hasn’t arrived and many may never arrive. But it’s my prayer that we all that have, take the time to reflect on the times when we wore their shoes and realize just how blessed they are. So what if you can’t get every item off of the list. So what if this year has to be different. So what because things could be so different.

And if everything is all good in your arrived world, please remember others and if you can help them in any way, please consider doing so. There are many kids throughout the world who would love to receive a blessing from you no matter how big or small.

Remember others this Christmas.

Thanks for your attention. Remember you are your own competition.

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