Perpetual Ruminations

Christmas Came Early

We received a package today with Christmas gifts in it. Not just any package, one sent by a man named De'Vondre Campbell and his wife. We don't know these people personally, he's a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. He wanted to do something for some families that have adopted troubled children, and the agency we adopted our two girls through submitted our names.

We received a form to fill out with some information about all of us, my wife, our two girls, and myself. It also had a place to list a few different gifts that each person wanted. We filed it out and submitted it, wondering if any of these items would be sent or if something else would arrive instead. We really weren't given such information except that the Campbells wanted to help make some families Christmas special.

We opened the package and all the gifts inside were wrapped and tagged, so we put them under the tree. We had not told the girls anything about this, since we didn't know for sure if anything would even arrive. So, tonight we showed them the gifts, told them who the gifts were from, and I brought up De'Vondre's statistics for them to see.

They were ecstatic that someone famous had sent them gifts and couldn't restrain from getting on their phones and sharing this with all their friends. I still don't think the full magnitude of this has sunk in fully for any of us. Not only did the package have gifts, but there were also a couple of cards, one for my wife and one for me. We opened them to find that they had also included two gift cards for a couple of items that would have been difficult to ship; one item my wife listed that she wanted was a bicycle.

Since we had unintentionally opened part of our gifts, we decided the girls should get to open one of theirs as well; the package contained two gifts each. They each received one of the items off the list, not cheap little gifts but very nice gifts. When we listed things they wanted, we tried to think of things that would last and benefit them as well. One got a Kindle E-reader and the other got a graphics tablet that interfaces with the computer. Reading and creativity, what wonderful gifts, and they love them.

Thanks to the Campbells Christmas started a little early this year; a year when so many people wonder if Christmas is even coming because of the pandemic, and here it is, the spirit of Christmas in full bloom. Not only wonderful gifts but also treasures because of who gave them and why.