๐๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต? ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ.โฃ
โ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ขโฃ
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The ding, ding, ding of Salvation Army bells welcomed us into the city adorned in twinkling Christmas lights. It was a beautiful rush back to the feeling of normalcy desperately missed this year.
But as we walked the downtown streets carefully stepping over legs protruding from tattered blankets, we realized we were wrong, the โnormalโ we felt was nothing more than window dressing.
Iโll be honest, the reality of so many people with no place to call home stole the joy from our yearly Christmas excursion and I asked to go home. โSure, but let's at least get a latte before we go.โ my husband agreed as he took my hand.
The barista called our names and handed us two cups of steaming deliciousness and a goodie bag. โHmm, you ordered a treatโ I exclaimed with anticipation of sharing in the sweetness. But when I peaked into the bag, I found a large stack of $10 gift cards. My husband took the bag from my hand and with great enthusiasm exclaimed, โLet's go spread some Christmas cheer!โ โฃ
Oh, how the joy returned to my heart as we walked back to the ferry, stopping to wish our homeless neighbors a Merry Christmas. But how much better it would have been, had it been our intent all along.
The ability to bless others, even in a small way, was far more wonderful than any gift we could have purchased. It was the essence of Christmas.
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THOUGHT FOR TODAY: โฃ
Is there a charity (local organizations, global initiatives, community outreach, or people youโre connected to, etc.) you can bless today? Share the love and receive the best Christmas gift ever!โฃ
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