North Pole, Alaska
I live in the great white north, North Pole Alaska.
This year will be the fourth year our family will do
a Christmas Jar and two years we even were able
to do two jars a year. I heard of the book while
watching Glenn Beck and hearing him talk about
the book and all the good that could come from
the Christmas Jars given anonymously. Our
family's Christmas is never complete without doing
some act of service and doing it anonymously is
always the best way. Our children's favorite memories
are leaving goodie or treat boxes on doorsteps, knocking
and running before they got caught. We still do treats
but our main focus is our Christmas Jars. We've been
able to give all our jars anonymously through the help
of other Christmas angles but the stories they bring
back to us really touch our hearts. It truly is amazing
how one jar can change a whole life.
One of the years a friend of ours was volunteering
at one of the local homeless shelters and befriended
a woman who was all alone. She was trying to turn
her life around and was making better choices but
was struggling all alone. Our friend happened to
mention her in passing one day during the Christmas
season. At this time our family was prying trying to
know who our jar should go to. The next couple of
days this woman and that conversation kept coming
back to me and our family decided that she would get
our Christmas Jar. I called my friend, swore her to
secrecy and had her deliver our Christmas Jar. My
friend came back the very next morning, telling me
she just had to share with me the wonderful experience
that had happened as she had delivered our jar. This
wonderful woman who was so bravely making decisions
to change her live sat and cried that anyone would do
this for someone else that did not even know. She felt
her life was not worth that much and she repeatedly
told my friend that she couldn't believe anyone would
do anything like this for her. Again, as with many
Christmas Jars, the money is welcome and needed, but
it is the feeling that someone knows your name and
recognizes that your struggling. Mainly, that God knows
who you are and He cares and loves you is the greatest
gift of all.
Our family has had many opportunities to not only give
Christmas Jars but tell others about them. All about the
book, about how they started and how they can join in
feeling of the wonderful spirit of giving, kindness and
love that surrounds all of us as we continue the Christmas
Jar Legacy.
The Jar That Has Changed Lives
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