Christmas Jar Story: 'I realized the gift of the jar was not just about the money.'

Pittsburgh, PA:

Christmas, 2010 My 4 children, my daughter-in-law, my daughter's finance, my 2 grandsons, and my dad spent a lovely Christmas day together. Later that night, I opened the front door to unplug the lights and discovered a bag on the doorstep. I brought it in and opened it and to my amazement found a glass jar filled with money and a book entitled, Christmas Jars. There was no note saying who it was from. In the "Acknowledgments" at the very beginning of the book I read, "I've been told of jars handed off to strangers in hospital parking lots, jars magically appearing on kitchen counters, the work of caring, stealthy neighbors...All this because someone saw a need and chose to serve." I knew the jar held A LOT of quarters and there were also several 20 and 10 dollar bills. Then,when I was turning over the jar,I found a 100 dollar bill folded at the bottom of all those quarters! My first thought was, why me? I'm sure there are others in greater need. Even though I have been struggling financially since my husband died 16 months ago, I realized the gift of the jar was not just about the money.

I recently took a job teaching part-time at a Christian school. I believe God led me to this school for I have been so blessed by the students and the staff I work with. However, it does not pay much and I was praying about whether I could continue next year. I believe God is showing me, through the love and kindness of my anonymous friend, that He will take care of my needs and that I can put all my trust in Him for He is ALWAYS faithful. I told my one son (who was too sick to leave that night) that I wanted to start our own Christmas jar. He agreed and then suggested that all of the siblings could put the amount they would have spent on buying gifts for each other next year in the jar instead. This is the miracle of the Christmas jars!