Giving

Hamoodi and Hemo have never eaten ginger bread man. They have only seen it in TV. So is their Christmas experience. I have had quite decent Christmas celebration in recent years. Yet I realise neither have I tried any gingerbread man before, even though I did read about the runaway gingerbread man during my childhood.

When Hamoodi asked me about gingerbread man, I thought they can be easily found in most bakeries, even during normal time of the year. I honestly didn't relate them with Christmas until Szuchen suggested that it should be easier to find it now because of the festive season.

At the end, when I was about to give up searching for it in Empire, the relatively higher end shopping mall in my area, I found it in Coffee Bean! I thought I saw bright spotlight illuminating the basket of ginger bread man on the counter when I stepped into the cafe.

So I bought one for each of them. When I whisked out their advanced Christmas gift from my shopping bag to show them, their expression was priceless! Yeah, I do have 2 kids in my house :) The best moment was when they excitedly cleaned their study table and laid the two gifts nicely on it to take pictures of them. I still find it really amusing and adorable. Things that I take for granted, such as celebrating Christmas, is actually something new to them.

Of course I do hope they will understand the reason behind such celebration, which is our Father who loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, so that we shall no longer be separated from Him by sin. Christmas is more than just buying gifts or fancy decoration or even roast turkey for dinner. It's the spirit of generosity and care, forgiveness and thanksgiving, with love.

It is through them that I rediscover the joy of Christmas. I am still trying to fast for Christmas, as I spend my lunch time praying and reflecting about Christmas. An ideal Christmas would be sharing this message of love and warmth of this festive season with others.

Merry Christmas in advance!