Actually the Christmas initiative is over but I want to share one last experience. Last Tuesday I took my school class to a care center to sing carols and deliver cards and candy canes to the 50 residents. We had 1 1/2 hours to make our visits so we sang them each a carol and delivered our gift and moved on to the next room. As I was leaving one room, this man looked deeply into my eyes and as I took a moment to look into his, I could see that he was crying, he was touched by our act of kindness. I went over and took his hand and we shed a few tears together. He didn't say anything. My class had moved on to the next room so I left and joined them.
We finished our service but I thought of this man all week. I couldn't get his warm, tender eyes out of mind. Christmas Eve day, we were finishing up our Christmas deliveries, and I told my family that we had one last stop that we had to make. I took a few small gifts into the care center and we began to look for my friend. I didn't catch his name or remember which hall he was in. A kind nurse tried to help us as I stuck my head in each room looking for the one.
Of course in the last room we checked, we found him. There was no name on his outside door but we learned that his name was Stephen.
We had a nice visit as we learned that he had suffered a heart attack, a stroke, and then had fallen and broken his hip while trying to recover! He was from Detroit and had moved to St. George on a whim after he took a map of the United States and then threw a dart at it; determined to pack up and move wherever the dart landed. The dart struck on Ivins, UT. So he packed up a Uhaul and moved to Ivins, Utah, site unseen!
He accepted a warm blanket and we wrapped him up in our love. Again our eyes met and tears were shed by us both. I realized why he touched me to the core; as I looked into his eyes, I felt as if I was looking at the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The True meaning of Christmas hit me in my small act of service as I recalled these words from Matthew 25:40,
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." #LIGHTtheWORLD
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