It was the winter of 1980, just about two weeks before Christmas.  Our son Joey had just turned 5 years old and our daughter Amanda had turned a year old in October.

The holiday season was upon us and I was shopping for gifts, with what little money I had available on the very small pastoral salary we earned at the little church in Union, Missouri.  But, I had managed to buy a few very special gifts for each of the kids, and a few things for both Jim and myself.

I remember that one of Amanda’s was a tiny heart locket which I had put a picture of her and Joey in, one on each side.  I had wrapped each gift carefully and placed them lovingly under the tree in anticipation of Christmas.  We of course kept the “Santa gifts” hidden away in the closet!

About that time, Jim was given the opportunity to speak at a revival in a church some miles away.  So, we loaded up our stuff and headed out.  We had arranged with my very dear friend Linda Scharfenberg (who was also our church clerk) to check on things while we were gone.  We had a little beagle dog that had to be fed and Linda was more than willing to go over with Timmy and Sissy and feed the dog and just make sure the house was alright.

A day or so before we were to return home, she called the church where we were ministering and asked to speak with Jim.  She told him that she stopped by the house that day, but she realized immediately that something was not right.  She left the kids in the vehicle and walked around the side of the house to explore a little bit.  The side entrance was standing wide open!  Not wanting to go in by herself – especially with her small children along, she left immediately and called the police.

As they arrived at our house it was to find that someone had broken the lock on the door and had entered the house through the garage and proceeded to steal our few Christmas gifts right out from under the tree!  Of course they stole several other items throughout the house as well, most of Jim’s guns were missing, my silver coin collection I had kept from a teenager on, and anything else of any monetary value.

It was very sad, and we felt so violated. Something about strangers coming into your home and ravaging it is very disconcerting.

The thing I learned from that experience, however, was that Christmas truly is not about the gifts.  It is about having your family and friends safe, and about the birth of Christ as our promise of salvation!

And then too, I’m sure that when the young men (it was later determined that a group of young guys had hit several houses) who stole our gifts were quite disappointed.

Our gifts were each very personal to us, and there was nothing of great value in any of those packages.  In fact, we laughed later about the look on their faces when they opened packages of underwear and socks!  But perhaps, just maybe, as they ripped open those simple packages, they felt the love that went into that very special Christmas, because it was with love that each and every little thing had been purchased and wrapped.

Needless to say, our church family came to the rescue and we had a wonderful Christmas in spite of the terrible situation of being robbed a week before Christmas!   And most importantly of all, God’s protection was over and around my precious friend and her children and they were not harmed in any way!

It’s not about the gifts folks – it’s about our family and friends and the love we all share with each other!  Merry Christmas!