Christmas Smile

What is justice? What is caring for the sick, the orphans, the outcast? These are things on my mind today. I have been getting more and more involved in charities, most of which are about kids and medical issues for obvious reasons. Today I got an email from the Starlight Foundation offering a toy for the kids in our family to help make Christmas a happier day for them. The thing is, we don't need it but how many kids this year will sit around the world in a hospital, with nurses checking in, poking them, doctors hurting them in an effort to make them well? How many parents will forgo Christmas decorations in their homes for a small tree at hospital bedside. Life really sucks sometimes and Christmas is a tough season for so many, and a toy won't make the problems go away, it won't change the situation for those kids, it won't take the pain away, but for a moment on Christmas morning it might help change a moment, it might bring a smile to the faces of a family who so desperately need to smile.

When Josh was in the hospital last time they had a 'treasure box' and when he had really painful procedures they would bring in the box and allow him to pick out a little toy from it. The smile that Josh gave when his eyes saw that box actually made you believe he'd forgotten the pain he'd just endured. It was special, and it gave us a warm feeling to see him his toothy grin through the tears. Kids are so easily pleased, so easy to make smile, so willing to be strong and happy.

On Christmas morning we have the power to make a child smile through tears, to forget for a moment that they should be at home, sitting under the tree with their family around them. We can give them a reprieve of sorts from the draining and difficult life of the hospital.

Christmas, to me, is not about the toys or the stockings or Santa. It is a celebration of the birth of my King, it's the day that we were given the most important gift of all time. The more I learn about Christ, the more Christmas means to me, and the more I am thankful for the blessings that I have received in my life so far. I can't make a child well this Christmas, I can't make a parents heart hurt less, I can't even make my own son well, but I can make someone smile. I can ease a burden from a parent who is struggling to pay the bills because they are staying in a hotel to be near their child, or not able to work because they need to be a full time care giver. I can make a difference to someone on Christmas morning, and so can you.

I am writing this today because I want to ask you to help me this year, I want you to help me make a difference to a child in a hospital somewhere. I am going to be collecting toys for the Starlight Foundation, they asked if I wanted one and I said no, but then I thought what if I do something else? What if I give back to a foundation who wants to do so much to help us? We don't need help this year, but there are kids who do.

So here it is... if you want to help me in this venture please write to me
( horizonsphotographs@gmail.com ) and let me know that you can donate a toy and we will figure out how and where to collect them, and I will make sure that Starlight gets them!

Thank you for your help... and thanks for make a kid somewhere smile.