Ringing Like a Bell

I have been reading Ann Voskamp's Advent devotional book this year, The Greatest Gift . Usually my friends and I read one together, but this year I dropped the ball. So only my sister is joining me in re-reading this great little book. Each day, along with the other devotional essentials, Ann includes a suggestion to take action in light of God's gift of Jesus. I've been trying to do them all along because it's fun and helps encourage me. She invites her readers to sing Christmas carols out loud, to create something from love, or do something just to please God. I've had no problem following along -- until yesterday. Here's yesterday's task: "Go to a new place today -- to a neighbor's home you've never been before. Be a blessing and bring your neighbor a blessing of some sort. Leave him or her a Christmas card telling about Jesus, the blessing God gives to all people on earth!" Let me say that there is nothing wrong with this idea. It...

About a week before Thanksgiving this year, I met Santa Claus. I have been having a challenging fall semester and feeling generally defeated. My students went through a phase where they were heckling me while I tried to teach, and I hadn’t had a lot of support in dealing the problems in my classroom. That day I was dressed totally in black, reflecting my mood. The store was crowded. I was exhausted. It was dark and raining out, but I had to get groceries. Finally, I made it to the checkout line. An elderly man came up behind me and started putting all his items on the conveyor belt. I glanced over and noticed that everything he was buying was holiday food: a turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing. He didn’t have a beard, but he smiled kindly. His hair was white. He leaned over toward me and handed me a coupon, “I think you need this.” I shook my head because it was a store loyalty coupon, and I was pretty sure it had to be used with a certain loyalty card account number. “I do...