Christmas Season is truly a magical time for all of us. Not only is it the time for gift giving but also a way to learn new lessons in life. One lesson that I have learned from my mom is that it is better to give than to receive. When we were growing up, she did not want us to concentrate on getting gifts so she included us on her yearly Christmas project for the parish which is to make a Christmas Stocking for kids.
All year long, our mom worked on her Christmas stockings. The stockings were made by mom herself. Then we would embroider different Christmas designs on the stockings with sequins and small beads. Whenever we would go to the mall, she would buy small toys which she will put inside the stockings. Or we will bake goodies and wrapped them in wax paper to be placed in the stockings as treats for the kids.
When it is Christmas season, we would then go to the parish to give the Christmas stockings to our priest. The priest will then give it to the deserving family. We don’t know who the family is nor do they know us. It was purely a random act of kindness.
Another lesson I learned is that although the family didn’t know who made the stockings and gave it to them, my mom told me that it is God who knows and that is what’s important. Now that I am all grown up, we still continue the Christmas tradition of Christmas stocking making project as a way to share our blessings to another person or family. Although now, we buy the treats because the kids were warned not to eat food that were not wrapped from the store.