Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 has been and gone. This year we wanted to continue last years tradition and share with others rather than receive ourselves. We are very fortunate to have the things that we have and it is hard to celebrate knowing that the simple things in people's lives are often put before the spoils of the Christmas season.

I made contact with the bishop of the ward in Fiji to see if he was happy to help us out again.

He was thrilled to assist.

Last year we shared what we had done with our family and some were touched enough that they wanted to contribute in 2014.

The funds were sent and the wait began. I trust the discretion of the Bishop to delegate the funds to those that need them the most.

This year we were able to assist a family with paying their school fees, a single mother have the windows in her home replaced, and provide some needed food and essentials to families who needed the help of others.

The first lot of news came through while we were eating dinner. The Bishop and his family had called in to visit the family that needed help paying for their school fees. When the gift was presented the father, a man in his 40's-50's cried. He was amazed that someone from across the globe would be thoughtful enough to share this gift with him. He revealed to the Bishop that he had been praying that somehow he would be able to pay the debt and allow his children to attend school in the coming year. He, nor I, ever thought that this act of giving would bring such great joy to each other.

This is what Christmas is about. Knowing that we have in some way made a real difference in someone's life. Christmas has a greater meaning to me now than ever before. I no longer am concerned that I have or have not purchased something for every person that I interact with in one way or another. It is more than all the retail hustle and bustle. It is hearing and seeing that we have become someone's Christmas miracle.


Last year we received photos of the gift giving. This year we sent and received videos to and from those that we assisted.

This idea of the Maiwiriwiri family was brilliant. It allowed us to get the kids more involved, and feel as though we are actually there participating in the giving.

I am not going to post the videos on here as I believe that they are a personal communication that does not need to be shared on the WWW.

I will share pictures of the kids that we took while making our video.

We look forward to 2015 and hope that we will be blessed with the same opportunity.