Givin' a Little Back

Don’t you just love the holidays? By this time of year most of us have pretty well given up on all the work we had planned for this fall (to be totally honest, we really didn’t think we’d ever get it all done anyway), and we take a little time to kick back and relax and be thankful for what we have. A lot of the rest of the year we’re just too durn busy trying to stay on top of the work that’s piling up before us to even think about it, but come Thanksgiving and Christmas, we can take a little time off to sit by the fire and sort of put everything back into perspective.

We’ve all had a disappointment or two this last year. Maybe we’ve lost someone, or have gotten a bad report from the doctor, or maybe it just didn’t rain on time (again). But, no matter what kind of ruts you’ve encountered in the trail you’ve just come down, the secret is in keeping it all in perspective. That’s one of the things I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on after all these years. If a fella will just start thankin’ God for the things we HAVE, all of a sudden every one of those good reasons we’ve figured out for feeling down in the dumps just sorta disappears. We’ve all got a lot more than we really need.

We can learn a lot from kids if we’ll just take the time. Christmas is really all about kids, isn’t it? What ever you do, don’t make the mistake of spending too much money on ‘em. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen ours pull some expensive gadget out of a box and then throw it in the corner and play in the box. They would have been just as happy with a big empty box wrapped in pretty paper that needed rippin’ off.

The real trick for us “long in the tooth folks” is to somehow catch a little glimpse of Christmas from a kid’s point of view. That’s really all it takes. True fulfillment only comes from capturing the awe and wonderment that comes so naturally to a child and translating it into doing something meaningful for someone else.

Here’s a true story. Although I’ve got a bad reputation (somehow??) of sprinkling a liberal amount of BS in my stories, this one is exactly the way it happened … honest. I’m just going to change the names for obvious reasons. The only way I even caught wind of this whole deal was by getting to know the guy that was on the receiving end of this little tale after it happened. This is how the story unfolded.

Earl was a simple man with a wife and a couple of kids. A few years ago they lived just down the river from us in a farm house they’d rented. He was a good hard worker and provided well for his family, but he’d lost his job, and things were getting pretty tight around that camp. Earl was quite a hunter, so there really wasn’t any danger of them starving to death, but work is awfully hard to find around here in the winter time. There sure wasn’t going to be anything extra for Christmas that year.

He was also a proud man. Not the kind of a guy that went around tellin’ folks his troubles and asking for a handout. In fact, that was totally out of the question. They’d get by somehow. He gathered scrap iron for a few bucks to pay the light bill, and although everyone was getting sort of sick of venison three times a day, they were scraping by … barely.

The big problem for Earl was that Christmas was coming. There isn’t anything that will take the wind out of a man’s sails like not being able to properly provide for his family. Christmas time can be pretty tough in a deal like that.

Bob and Betty somehow got wind of their predicament. They weren’t folks of enormous means, by any stretch of the imagination, but they had made a practice of trying to find a family like Earl’s to bless every Christmas. Bob operated a small business, and Betty was a stay-at-home Mom and a great cook. It was just a little special something that they had been doing for quite some time, but managed to keep it entirely to themselves. It was their annual secret mission. They did it on the sly … very few folks, except the ones that they’d helped over the years, even knew what was going on.

They’d somehow managed to find out how many kids Earl and his wife had, and their sizes, and just “showed up” one night after supper with a whole car load of goodies. I think there were new school coats for the kids, and I know there was a little toy or two. They also had in tow several boxes that contained a huge turkey with all the trimmin’s, a sack of spuds and a thousand other little treats; and those little things were the most special of all. They’re the kinds of things a family with a real job would just normally take for granted. Whatever money Bob and Betty spent must have seemed like peanuts compared to the looks in the eyes of Earl’s family that cold snowy night so many years ago.

That’s the true spirit of Christmas … helping to light a spark of hope and childish awe in the eyes of someone who needs a little boost of encouragement. In some cases, they may be just about ready to give up entirely. This Christmas, go do something nice for someone who doesn’t expect it … and if you want a REAL blessing … keep it a secret.

Keep Smilin’….and don’t forget to check yer cinch.

Ken Overcast is a recording cowboy singer that ranches on Lodge Creek in North Central Montana where he raises and dispenses B.S. http://www.kenovercast.com