I've cried a lot since hearing about the shootings, in fact, who hasn't?
My husband, who rarely sheds a tear, cried.
President Obama cried.
I think at some level, our entire country cried.
I'm still in unbelief.
I taught Kindergarten for many years
and it is still my favorite age to substitute teach when I am asked.
They are still so innocent-
they are still so little
and
mostly, still so pure.
And if you have children,
I know you would agree that we learn so many lessons from our children.
I wanted to share one lesson I learned from one of my past kindergarten students.
held the Saturday before last.
was so wonderful!
I hope you enjoy it.
I titled it "The Gift of Christmas".
My favorite grade to teach was Kindergarten.
I remember this one year,
I had a student named James.
James stood out to me for a few reasons.
He was smaller than the other students, and he was
thin and frail.
His blonde hair was very sparse on his head and he
came to school with dark circles
under his big blue eyes.
Many times when I would be reading a story,
the
students would be intensely listening to me
and James would be totally sprawled
across the floor.
Once,
he had actually
fallen asleep!
Well, I later
found out why James always came to school tired and disheveled.
His mother had left him and
his baby sister to be raised by their father alone.
I can only imagine James’ father getting him to school,
going to work and taking care of the household,
which is why I think a lot of
James’ needs were just barely met.
Well, the months went by and Christmas vacation was
almost here,
so we had a little party the last day before the students had
their
Christmas Vacation.
I always gave my students a coloring book or
notebook,
with pencils or crayons.
I made sure to wrap the presents w/paper and
ribbon
because I knew that for many of my students,
this would one of only a
few presents they would receive for Christmas.
I usually
didn’t open the gifts I received from the students while they were there
because I would never
want anyone to feel bad about not giving me a gift,
but one of my Mentors, that
taught there for many years,
said she opened the gifts,
mostly because the
students liked watching her open the presents,
so I thought I would try this
out this year.
One by one, I’d pick up a present,
most of them
wrapped with paper and lots of pretty bright ribbon,
and one by one,
the gift giver would
come to the front of the room
to stand next to me as I opened each present.
After unwrapping the gift and showing it to the students,
they
would clap and giggle,
then wait for the next present and giver.
I was finally getting to the end of the presents and the last one I noticed was a
small gold
box.
It was
somewhat beaten up, looked like it had been run over,
and there wasn’t any wrapping around it or any ribbon.
I
picked it up and held it up to the class and said,
"Now, I wonder who is giving
me this beautiful box?”
I looked around at the little curious faces as they
all sat on the rug in front of me,
and slowly,
my eye caught movement in the
back.
I saw a blonde head slowly rising above the others,
and James stood up,
with his little head bowed down
as he slowly stepped over
the children sitting on the rug,
to the front of the room where I waited for him.
He stood next to me as I held the little gold box
and I looked at his big blue eyes.
I said,
“I wonder what is inside of this little box?”
As I opened it, I could feel all the children on the
rug lean forward in anticipation,
as if to be able to peek inside if they did this.
They waited patiently.
Inside the
small gold box was a very small, white button.
I took the little treasure out of the box to show
the students and held it up
so everyone could see.
They all began clapping excitedly
and as they did
this,
I noticed that James was slowly picking up his lowered head.
I exclaimed,
“James, this is the most beautiful
button I have ever received!!!”.
(it was the only button I have ever received)
He blushed, and as I bent over to give this little boy a hug of
gratitude,
I could feel his small bony body,
in dire need of a hug.
He said that he found it on the floor in his
mother’s closet
and it was from one of her “pretty tops”
that she took when she
left.
He said he saved that button but he wanted to give
it to me.
It took everything
I had to not just start bawling like a little baby!!
I didn’t really know what to say, other than
“thank
you so much, it means so much to me”.
His eyes were lit up with joy.
I learned a big lesson that day.
It is, really, the thought that counts.
It's not the size or the cost that is important when receiving a gift.
It is what it represents-
love for you.
Don't get consumed by gifts and presents this Christmas-
seek HIS presence
and
you will receive the greatest gift-
HIS LOVE.
He is and was the true reason for this HOLYday.
May your day be merry and bright-
