A man visiting a third world country found a badly used bike in a dumpster and fixed it up so it at least could be rode. He presented it to one of the village children as a Christmas gift, and the boy had tears in his eyes, proudly riding his new bike. No one had ever given him anything before.
I remember in 2004 or so I went on a medical mission trip to Honduras where we set up a medical clinic and pharmacy at several churches there. I had been sponsoring a few children through Compassion and one child I was able to sponsor was 8 year old Carmen, from Honduras. They bused her down to where I was in Tegucigalpa and she, her Grandma and an interpreter were able to spend the afternoon with me. She had Pizza Hut for the first time and I took her to the mall and we picked out shoes and an outfit. She was so excited.
I also remember seeing a video of Chinese Christians receiving bibles for the first time. They hugged them, and each other, and the tears did not stop.
And then I remember hearing about a father who wanted to surprise his young son at Christmas. He bought him a brand new Nintendo Game Cube and games and wrapped them with care and hid them in the back of the tree. Toward the end of gift wrapping, he secretly pulled out the gifts and then watched from a distance in anticipation of when his son opened the present.
A few seconds later the son threw the gift across the room, yelled out, “But I wanted an Xbox!” and stormed off to his room, slamming the door. He refused to talk to his father the rest of the day.
America, we have a problem, don’t we. It might cause WWIII but it might be good for our children to send all their gifts oversees this year.
And next year, they just may be thankful even if they don’t get that X-box.