All of the Christmas Trees, snowflakes, and decorations are packed up at the Treehouse. There are boxes in the corner and tables stacked against the wall. It should have that feeling of post-Christmas let down, but there is a happy sort of anticipation. This weekend we got to be a small part of the Christmas celebrations in Marks Village, but Christmas isn’t over yet!
This weekend my husband said he was so excited to think about Christmas morning here in the village. All of the kids’ excitement to finally unwrap their Christmas presents (if they were able to wait that long!) and all of the parents smiles to see their kids open the gifts they chose for them! Families will play board games together, read books, and make slime! They will go on adventures to the zoo, jump park, and movie theater from door prizes they won! They will play with the lights on their very first Christmas tree and bake cookies together! After the holidays, we will deliver family portraits and pictures with Santa, so that parents and children can remember the fun time they had together this year. We won’t get to see all of those moments, but are so thankful that we got to work behind the scenes to help create special memories.
While I can’t speak for all of the staff, volunteers, neighbors, and parents who helped to make Christmas in the Village possible, I have a few memories from behind the scenes for which I am grateful. I’ll remember unloading, pricing, and sorting hundreds of toys with wonderful volunteers. I’ll remember drinking hot chocolate and talking with parents as they waited to go shopping and reading the Legend of the Candy Cane with a sweet little girl. I’ll remember the middle schooler who told me he ate all of the cookies to protect me from eating too many! :-) I’ll remember seeing smiles and laughter and a few tears. I’ll remember the little kids seeing Santa in the building and barely containing their excitement. Mostly, I’ll remember that God gave us a beautiful opportunity to celebrate His great rescue plan and know that he is still working even when the Christmas decorations come down.
This year we nearly doubled the number of families who were impacted by Christmas in the Village! We also had more Marks Village community members involved this year, with around 20 volunteers serving their neighbors during the event!
