Light the World

The Ball family helped light the world!  This past Christmas season, I decided I wanted our family to help another family in need.  I told the boys that instead of getting Christmas pajamas that they don't need, we could use the money to help a family. Through my church assignment in Relief Society I've been able to meet and work with women in a small Spanish branch in our stake.  Many of the women speak little to no English and work several jobs to make ends meet.  They are faithful, hard working, and optimistic despite living hard lives.  I reached out to their Relief Society President and asked if there was a family she knew of that could use some help to have Christmas.  She gave me a list of four families and on that list was a family with a single mom of nine children ages 1-18.  I knew this was the family we should help but it would take a lot more than Christmas pajama money to make it happen.  My small idea quickly warped into a huge effort involving lots of families.

I sent out an email to friends, asking if they'd consider getting Christmas gifts for one of the members of this family and was pleasantly surprised when everyone responded with eagerness to help.  I reached out to women in my ward to see if anyone had specific items they would be willing to donate or gift to this family.  They needed a table and chairs for eight, couches, coffee table, television, bedding, and gift cards for groceries.  Word spread fast and my phone seemed to explode with messages of people eager to help and donate items.  I wasn't expecting such generosity and had no plan for actually collecting and delivering the furniture but before I knew it, I was at my Bishop's house borrowing his trailer so I could pick up table/chairs, a coffee table, and an end table.  I even secured a large sofa and arm chair but the family wanted to wait for furniture that was leather or faux leather so the kids wouldn't destroy it.  As I collected the items I realized I had no place to store the stuff so luckily my neighbor offered her extra garage.  It truly was miraculous how things fell into place throughout the project.

I've pulled a trailer before but never hooked one up or had to back one up.  The guy that was supposed to help canceled at the last second and sent his eighteen year-old son who offered muscle but no driving experience.  We both learned a lot and laughed a lot as we figured out how to hook up a trailer and plug it in so the brake lights worked.  We learned to turn off the car before you're hooking things up since your face is inches from the exhaust spewing out of the muffler.  We both inhaled a lot of toxins before we figured that one out!  I was laughing so hard.  After loading the furniture, then unloading it into a garage, and then returning the trailer, I was getting pretty good at driving it.  I channeled my inner Linz who said backing trailers up was easy, especially if you turn around and look behind you, but I couldn't do it!  I kept jack knifing the whole thing so we finally unhooked it, left the car parked in the middle of the cul-de-sac, and pushed the trailer back into its place.  It took a couple running starts to make it up and over the curb but it all worked out with only a slightly disgruntled garbage man who couldn't pick up the cans because I was in the way. I laughed my head off as we pushed that trailer up the long driveway as I tried not to pee my pants.

I took my boys shopping for the gifts for the baby we were assigned on the rainiest and darkest day in Seattle history.  But it sure didn't feel dark to us as we felt the Spirit of Christmas in our hearts. Over the next few days, gifts began arriving.  I told my friends to purchase $100 worth of gifts/necessities for each family member and the only information they had was the child's name and age so they really had no idea what sizes to buy in clothing or what interests they had.  I told everyone to say a prayer and shop away!

I ended up delivering the furniture and a huge, barely used television a couple weeks before Christmas since the family had no furniture.  Luckily, Randy was able to help with the delivery because as soon as I'd hooked up the trailer and loaded the furniture, I realized his car was out of gas.  The thought of getting stuck in a situation where I would need to back up the trailer was really stressing me out.  Randy wasn't worried though, probably because he'd never tried to back up a trailer, and things went smoothly.  Even the weather cooperated and the rain held off until after the delivery.  It was so fun to deliver the furniture and see the kids get so excited to have a place to sit and eat.  Randy was able to use his Spanish to talk to the mother and let her know we had lots of presents coming.

On Christmas Eve day, Marcus and I loaded the van with all the gifts, groceries, and new bedding that had been collecting in my dining room.  We filled the van and barely had room for our friend Caleb, a recently returned missionary who was eager to help and translate for me.  We arrived with our arms full of gifts and the kids watched, eager with excitement as we returned again and again with more gifts.  The small little Christmas tree that stood alone in an empty room was soon overflowing with presents.  I asked the kids if they were excited to open their presents and they said, "We're opening them as soon as you leave!"  It was so cute.  I gave the mom an envelope with all the gift receipts and told her everything could easily be exchanged at Target.  She just waved her hands and said none of it would be returned.  They wanted it all and were so grateful.  We got a quick picture and left with huge smiles on our faces as we drove away.
Of course I forgot to bring the gift cards so I took them over on Christmas Day with Marcus translating.  The mother was so thankful and the kids were waving as they ran past, busy playing with their new toys.

This is a picture from book group but many of these women were the people who made all the gifts happen.  I tear up just looking at it as I know how busy Christmas season is for moms and yet they all donated so much including their time.

I sent the following pictures to all my friends who donated.  I wished they could have all been there to see those kids faces.  I'm glad my boys got to see and feel what it's like to make a difference.  As Ethan helped me load the huge TV into our van, he said, "This is so cool, Mom. We should do this every year!"  I agreed.  But it was exhausting!

 I collected over a $1000 in gifts, clothing, bedding, groceries, and gift cards

Marcus was quite particular about loading the packages without damaging the wrapping and bows.

I don't know what we will do next year to help a family in need, but I have a feeling it will never compare to what we accomplished this year.  This will be a memory I will treasure forever.