Today I’m going to share something very personal and I’m praying
it comes through as it’s meant; from the heart…
Life can be so hard. I get it. More than you know. I can
remember, what seems like only yesterday… I was a single mom of two precious
little girls. They were 2 & 3. I was going through a divorce, so strapped.
I was blessed though as I received child support every month from their father.
Which is more than many do. I will always be grateful for that. But it was
tough. We lived in one town, had childcare in another, and I worked in another.
I was always the last mom to pick up her kids. They usually ate mac’ n cheese
& hotdogs or hamburger helper for dinner. I’d eat whatever was left. I kept
a box of cheap wine in the fridge. I rationed it for weeks! That was my
“reward” for working hard. One day I had the most humbling experience of my life.
The best gift of my life. As I came to pick up the girls one Friday evening, my
daycare provider, Elke Howard, met me at the door. She said “Honey, I have
something for you. I told the other moms we had a mom in need. I didn’t tell
them who, but they all stepped up.” She, along with the other day care moms,
had put together bags of food for me & for my girls. Everything from boxed
meals and rice, to frozen meat. Bags full. I left there that night so humbled
by their kindness, tearful and full of gratitude…I was 27 years old.
In
the next phase of my life, I met & married my soul mate, Ray Hartman. We
had a good life, we both worked, and then I lost my job. We came upon tough
times. Again. I’ll never forget shopping for baby clothes for Chloe &
school clothes for Danielle & Brianna at second hand stores. Not our
proudest moments, but we did it without shame because that’s what you do. The
girls & I made cookies for Christmas gifts, because it’s about the love
that goes into it, not the money spent.
Today,
our life is different. It’s not perfect, life never is! But from a financial
perspective, we have freedoms we’ve never had before. We have the ability to
pay it forward. Last year about this time, I earned an $800 Christmas Cash
Bonus from the company that Ray & I get to represent. Remembering where we
have been; Chloe, Ray & I were able to anonymously pay off Christmas
layaways at Wal-Mart for 9 families with that bonus! I’m trying to type through the tears because
I KNOW what that will mean for these families. The store manager in Snellville,
GA said that while normally they have many do this each year, we were the only
people to do so thus far; “You don’t know what it’s like when these folks are
told…”, “They can get very emotional…” All we could say, well Ray could say,
because I was emotional, is “That’s what you do, you give when you can.” My
message to you today, is life is a gift. It’s never so bad that it can’t get
better. It is what you make it. My heart
is so full today because I KNOW that every family touched this past and future
Christmas, will hold the same memory I did, years ago, in their hearts. They
will go on to pay it forward to the next family when they can. God Bless you
all throughout this giving season.
