Monticello, Utah:

Our family recieved a Christmas jar which was a huge blessing in renewing our faith. We had experienced several hardships during the year and our money situation was in such a downward spiral that buying Christmas was very difficult, My kids had a gift I had made them under the tree yet I was feeling a little down that I couldn’t do more. Then While driving down the street of town on Christmas eve we noticed two wrapped gifts just laying in the road. I stopped and we picked them up, and we searched until we found who we thought the gifts belonged to. A little part of me was sad that the gifts couldn’t have been for my two children. I said a little prayer and I told God that maybe I just needed to become more selfish as I thought through the many times through out the year that I had helped people in need even though we were short on money, but here I was not able to bless my own family with gifts. When we arrived home, I asked God to forgive my attitude, and that I was thankful for all that we did have; our warm home, and lights, and the soothing sound of Christmas hymns. I went to my room full of joy for the beautiful evening, and the special spirit of Christmas, quickly forgetting my frustrations, when suddenly my daughter came flying down stairs yelling that someone was running from our yard. She ran to the door and came back with 2 jars full of coins along with the book, Christmas Jars. I sat down as tears fell down my face with a gratitude I can not even put into words, and thanked God over and over for the huge blessing we just received. I Thanked God for whoever blessed us so abundantly and prayed they would be blessed as much or more then they had blessed us. There are no words to describe the joy, and the manner in which this experience renewed our faith. Our family is excited to do this for someone next year. What a wonderful book, what a wonderful way to reach out. Thank you!