Christmas generosity

by Adrielle Herring

I grew up in pretty modest circumstances for the most part. But my mother, who never had much, always believed she had enough to share.

I remember one Christmas season when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My family was experiencing a period of acute poverty. My parents had managed to acquire a couple of run-down trailer homes for our large family. But the trailer homes were old and there was no heat in the second trailer where my older brother, Eli, and I had our bedrooms. I remember that when I woke up in my bedroom each morning, the first thing I’d see was my breath in the freezing winter air. I share that detail simply to paint a picture of our circumstances at the time and to set the stage for the Christmas memory I want to share.

During this difficult period, my church youth group was gathering donations to provide a holiday dinner to a needy family. I told my mom than I needed to contribute a can of food. I was a kid and I was a little clueless and I had no idea what I was asking. But Mom didn’t just give me one can. She donated generously from her modest pantry, hoping to ease the trouble of some other mother who, she supposed, might find herself in even greater need.

But there was no family in greater need.

I well-remember the biting cold that black winter night when, trudging through crackling ice and snow, our LDS bishop brought a large box, amply supplemented with Mom’s donations, to her own home. That made quite an impression on me as a young girl. My mother — in dire circumstances — had not hesitated to share. Caring for others, even in her moments of greatest want, was a way of life for her.

I regularly reflect on my mother’s example. And no Christmas has ever gone by that I haven’t remembered what my mother did that year. I love her for the example she set for me and I hope to live up to it.

Adrielle Herring is the owner of Exponent Strategy (a political consulting firm), campaign manager for Congressman John Curtis and celebrator of women’s leadership.

Christmas in the military

by Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion

Christmas has a different flavor for active-duty military families. During the 26-years my husband Jim served in the Air Force, it often meant mailing packages to family back home in Utah or helping our kids settle in for a long plane ride to visit family here. Two Christmases stand out for us.

The hard one was 2001 when Jim was deployed to the United Arab Emirates for about six months. While we loved our neighbors in Ohio, our four children and I missed Jim very much, and also missed our extended family. For the first month of his absence, he was in a black ops area. We didn’t know his exact location and contact of any kind with him was not permitted. Later, we could only connect with him through emails once a week. As war wages in Ukraine and in the middle-east, our hearts are with people who have lost members of their family to the violence or are struggling to survive and anxious about their loved ones.

One of the happiest was our first with a baby, when we rented an apartment in Wheaton, Maryland while Jim was in medical school. What was magical about that time was the strong sense of community we had with our neighbors. Our neighbors were of all ages and many nationalities and religions, but we were all friends. We knew almost everyone in our building, and we felt a connection with each of them. Some of them came to visit with us, or shared their excellent Korean food. One of our senior neighbors dressed up as Santa for our baby son. Though many of us knew our time in there was only for a few years, we gave of ourselves freely and joyfully.

Studies show loneliness is currently an epidemic in our country. Enjoy connecting with others this Christmas as you write cards to friends near and far and as you open your heart to give and connect with love. Create peace and joy, here and now.

Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion represents District 41 in the Utah House

Giving away Christmas

by Amy Dott Harmer

Several decades ago while I serving as missionary for my church, I waited patiently for the arrival of a Christmas box from home.  December 20th came, December 22nd, still no box.  I knew the holidays were busy for my parents.  They owned a gift store and December was the busiest time of the year.  The 23rd passed and still no box.  All the missionaries around me had received boxes from home but still on the morning of the 24th nothing arrived.  I convinced myself it was ok but inside I was disappointed.  My mission clothes were getting old and my shoes needed replacing. My missionary companion at the time, who I lived with, could see my disappointment and indiscreetly opened her box from home. She kindly shared some of her treats and gifts.

Late the night of the 24th, when I had lost hope, there was a knock at the door and the postman with a box. It was for me from my family. As I ripped the package open in excitement, I saw stickers, bouncy balls, pencils and small toys. I was puzzled.  As I dug a little deeper, I discovered a note in my mom’s handwriting. “Instead of giving YOU a Christmas, we thought we would give you a Christmas you could give away.” I wish I could say I loved the box of trinkets and the message but I was disappointed.  A new shirt or shoes was what I wanted, not a box of small stickers and toys for others.

The next morning my companion and I set out to celebrate Christmas with the humble families that we taught and served in East Los Angeles.  We loaded our pockets and bags with the stickers and carnival like toys my mom had sent.  As we visited the humble apartments of the Latin Americans we served and taught, we shared the small gifts.  To my surprise, the children loved the bouncy balls and stickers.  For many,  this was their gift for the day, as their parents struggled to make ends meet.

For the next couple of weeks we shared these simple toys that were now treasures to me. On a daily basis, when we entered humble, run down apartment complexes, the children would run to us and ask for stickers.  They would play with us and introduce us to their families. We gained new friends and people to serve everywhere we went.

Little did I know that that year was a hard year for my parents.  They were closing their beloved gift store that they had run for many years.  They had put so much love and time into “The Dotted Line” but discovered that keeping it running was no longer financially viable for them.  They had done their best that holiday season to keep things rolling but it was not enough to keep the store open.

Last year, as I packed up a Christmas missionary box for Sam, I felt my mom, who is now gone, reminding me what it’s all about.  I cried as I loaded the small toys and trinkets into his box and taped it up.  I hoped he too would discover the true beauty and magic of this season.

Amy Dott Harmer is the executive director of Utah Refugee Connection

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• Jan. 9 — What’s Up Down South Economic Summit. St. George. Register here
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• Jan. 21 — Utah legislative session begins
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On This Day In History

• 245 - Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, born in Palmyra, Syria
• 1779 - Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct
• 1783 - George Washington resigns as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retires to Mount Vernon
• 1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr, is born in Sharon, Vermont
• 1823 - “Visit from St. Nicholas” is published anonymously in a New York newspaper. Later, Clement Clarke Moore claimed authorship. We know the poem as “The Night Before Christmas.”
• 1867 - Sarah “Madam C. J. Walker” is born. Both entrepreneur and philanthropist, she was the first woman and first African American woman self-made millionaire and revolutionized hair care and cosmetics industry in early 20th century
• 1888 - Vincent van Gogh chops off his ear
• 1913 - US President Woodrow Wilson signs Federal Reserve Act into law
• 1954 - The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1971 - US President Richard Nixon commutes remaining 8 years of Teamsters labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa's 13-year jail term for bribery and fraud
• 1972 - 16 plane crash survivors rescued from Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 after 72 days on the Andean Mountains, after only surviving through cannibalism
• 1982 - Chaminade, an NAIA school with only 900 students, shocks #1 Virginia’s basketball team in one of the greatest upsets in sports history when they win 77-72.
• 2016 - United Nations Security Council adopts a resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. Resolution 2334 was moved by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela and passed 14-0 with a US abstention.

Quote of the Day

“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again."

-Howard W. Hunter

On the Punny Side

Why does Santa use GPS?

He doesn’t want to be a lost Claus.

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