Christmas Jar Story:' teach my children that Christmas is 365 days a year.'

Silver Spring , Md:

Another Christmas had passed and the decorations
were put away. I realized that I wanted to find a way
to keep those feelings of hope and givings alive, a
way to teach my children that Christmas is 365 days
a year. When I read the book "Christmas Jars", I
knew it would change our lives. I knew that I
found a new family tradition, a tradition that kept
the meaning of Christmas alive throughout the
year. My husband and I put a jar on our kitchen
counter and explained to our 2 children what
we were going to do.

Throughout the first year, they kept asking,
"who are we going to give the jar to?" Our
response was always the same, "God will let
us know". That first year, it was a local family
in need. The second year was a young struggling
college student that tutored my son.

My husband just commented that the jar is nearly
full and it is only July. It looks like we will be
giving 2 jars this year.

The joy that we have experienced in giving hope
and sharing God's love has been incredible.

Last year we delivered our jar to a single
mother of 3 small children that had lost hope
when her husband walked out on his family.
My teenage son was overwhelmed with emotion
when this young woman threw her arms around
him and said, "I didn't know anyone cared. How
did you know, who are you" (we didn't know her
or her us, but God certainly knew to lead us
to her). When my son and I left her home, he
looked at me and said, let's do this next year.
I knew that this had reached his heart.

This year, who will get the Christmas jars...
God will let us know.

As a look at the jar on my counter, I feel
excited about being a part of something so
great and so joyous. Of course, that is what
Jesus meant about experiencing Heaven on
earth.