my favorite gift...

So earlier today, I finished the first of three "Christmases" (AKA - time of opening gifts) of which I will be partaking while I'm in Texas. This was actually the one that I look forward to the most every year - the one with just my parents and my sister...no grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (not that I don't love them all, by the way). But I love when it's just the four of us getting to spend time together.

I opened what will undoubtedly be my favorite gift of the year (and I know I have more to come...but nothing will beat this one). But after we had opened gifts, my dad said "Okay we have one more gift for you girls to open and they're in those two little boxes on the fireplace". So Melissa and I each pick up a box and open it to find a computer-generated Xmas card (I love when my dad makes those...they're so endearing...) and in the card was a $100 check from my parents made out to...no one. And the card read:

A few weeks ago, Mom and I attended a Feast or Famine meal at LCU. There we learned about how many people in the world are starving to death and how someone like the Breedlove Dehydration Plant could make major inroads to helping alleviate starvation by their dehydration process. Breedlove works in all parts of the world helping get food to starving people. We were very impressed with the presentation and coupled with your interest in this problem, we decided that we would each give $100 of our Christmas money to an agency such as Breedlove to help fight the loss of life through starvation. Mom and I will be giving our checks to Breedlove.

However, we left the "to" part of "your" check blank so that you can make your own personal decistion to where the money would do the "most" good. Just fill out the "to" protion of the check and make sure that the people get it before the end of the year.

We admire your charitable hearts, and so we honor you by making this Christmas a little more special. Thank you for setting such a good example of caring.

We love you,

Dad and Mom

Yeah, there's not going to be any gift this Christmas that tops that. By the time Melissa and I had finished reading our cards, we were both crying, which of course made my mom cry and I promise you that I saw a tear in my dad's eye...or at least some redness (which is probably like the third time in my life that I've ever seen that).

I don't know why it was so emotional for us...I mean, even saying it now sounds a little cheesy, but it wasn't so much that it was just a sweet gift or sweet words on a card. I think it was because it was like this moment where the the four of us were totally of one spirit and one heart...all believing and agreeing on what is the most important thing. Melissa and I have sometimes felt like a few of our friends/family members have given us that "oh-you're-so-naive", "pat-you-on-the-head" reaction to our ideas and our dreams of helping those in need around the world. But it was such an amazing thing for our parents to love and support our heart's desires and all four of us stand together for what God is calling us to. I'll never forget that moment.