the other side

growing up i couldnt tell you what i got for christmas.

but what i do remember about christmas growing up,
is much more important than any present i ever got.

my family would choose another family from church.
and then we would do an anonymous 12 days of christmas for them.

on the first night,
we would slowly drive by their house
to check and make sure they were home.
and to also look for a good hiding spot behind a tree or bush close by.
then my parents would drive around the corner and park
while we proceeded to get out of the car, our arms full of goodies.

we would slowly creep up to their door step,
our hearts pounding in our chest with all the adrenaline pumping through our bodies.
then with a few loud knocks,
we'd take off running as fast as we could to our hiding spot
so we could watch their faces when they opened the door.

it was priceless.
and i learned it was far better to give than to receive.
(cheesy? maybe.)

the first christmas jared and i were married,
we choose another couple in our ward.
we were a little too poor to do a 12 days of christmas,
so we opted to just leave them something one night.

but then our second christmas came,
and then it went.
and we didnt choose any family to serve.

and then our third christmas came,
and then it went.
and again, we didnt choose any family to serve.

and now here we are,
our 4th christmas married.

a few nights ago,
after we put parker down for bed,
we heard five loud, fast knocks on our door.
at first neither one of us moved.
we sort of looked at each other like, 'who could that be?'

then right as jared opened the door, i said,
"i bet someone doorbell ditched us"
and sure enough there on our doorstep sat this:

i was so giddy the rest of the night.
i couldnt believe that someone had thought to leave us something for christmas.
it was a different experience being on "the other side" of things.
and then the thought occured to me.
we've missed the opportunity to serve others for the past few years,
maybe this was a reminder to get our butt off the couch
and return the favor.


we have no idea who left this for us,
but to whoever you were, thank-you!