I work at the downtown church in our small town. A young man named
Tommy Gheesling wanders in from time to time. I do not know the nature of
his disability, whether brain damage from an accident or a stroke, but he
struggles to talk and walk. Yet he is always doing something for someone else.
This Christmas both myself and our receptionist were a little
overwhelmed both at work (we just got a new pastor, plus Christmas time at
a Church means a lot of extra work for the staff) and at home (she has
three teenagers!). It was getting harder and harder to keep focused on the
real meaning of Christmas.
Well, Tommy got us back on track. There is a group home for retarded
men in our town, and Tommy found out that no one does anything special for
them at Christmas. He took it upon himself to make sure they got a splendid
Christmas. How? He personally went door to door to every business in our
town and got donations for these men. Tommy, with his faltering gait and
struggle to speak, spent days on end putting together the best Christmas
these young men could imagine. This sacrificial, Christ-like love for his
fellow man restored to us a new vision of what Christmas really and truly
is all about, and I hope this encourages everyone to remember that it truly
is all about giving, not expensive gifts but gifts of yourself. God bless
you, Tommy!
