Small things with great love.

I haven't shared much about the Christmas season because there is so much to share, it is all jumbled up in my head, but here is one story.

In the days and weeks that led up to Christmas there were so many sweet gestures from families and people in the community. Each day for about 2 weeks, the women in the neighborhood cooked lunch for us like tamales, enchiladas, chile rellenos, etc. I pride myself on remembering everyones names, but there were even a few people whose names I didn't know that brought us gifts. There are 2 different "gifts" that were my favorite.

The first is from an older street man that we call "John the baptist". He is know for finding all kids of treasures in the dumpsters behind the businesses in our neighborhood. The night of the christmas pageant he pulled me aside and presented a gift to me. They were two little hand paintings of butterflies that had been framed. He had found the frames in a dumpster and had made the paint out of old markers and empty paint cans he had found. He told me a long story about why he had picked the butterflies out just for me. It was such a sweet gift...

The second gift is a little more humorous. There is a homeless man I will just call MB. I'm just going to be blunt... he's crazy. On some days he says the kindest things and on some days he completely loses his mind and starts cussing people out. Because of his unpredictability, he doesn't get to come in and wait with everyone else. We think it is a safer idea for him to wait outside. Everyday Luke is so patient and helps MB with anything he needs. He usually washes his clothes about 2-3 times a week and gives him a can of vienna sausages, his favorite food, everyday. We have also become his personal bank and on the rare occasion he has a dollar or two, we put it in his file for safe-keeping. The thing that makes MB so interesting is his mode of communication. He writes note cards. He doesn't speak much but instead writes everything out (in perfect hand-writing) on small lined note cards. Every morning he rings the doorbell around 9 and drops off his requests for the day. Some days it will say "May I please have viennas and clean socks?" or it might say "Can I use the phone?"... it is very interesting and we all get a good chuckle. But a few weeks ago MB came with an entire stack of notecards and handed them to Luke. He asked Luke to pass them out. On each notecard he had written out tiny Christmas cards for every staff member. "Dear __________. Merry Christmas. God Bless you. I love you. Love, MB". It was so special and definitely a christmas card that will hang in my office year around.

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa