Amidst the chaos of the Christmas season . . . take this momentto remember the many things that a child symbolizes, hope and peace and endless possibility. . . .
In a remote village in Romania, in a 10 by 10 room, gathered 29 small children, 13 volunteers, and 8-10 staff. All 29 children had been lovingly dressed in RED. The clothes had been donated, so were the toys, some new, some second hand, but all given in order to give these children a Christmas to remember. We decorated the tree while they were “sleeping.” Homemade Christmas cookies had been baked and decorated with donated cookie cutters! The children were wired for sound all morning because they just knew from a life of sameness that something wasn’t the same today! As they awoke from their naps one by one, it was bittersweet to see the reactions of some of the children as they saw a Christmas tree for the first time. Some were in awe; barely touching the ornaments and the branches of the tree, some were afraid of all the color and the “difference” they saw in the room that they had known all their lives only one way.
All were over stimulated and overwhelmed by something, and so was I. It was as if I was above it all, yet watching every detail in order to remember the moments as they unfolded. I listened to Christmas songs being sung in Romanian and it reminded me just how far away my family and all that makes Christmas, Christmas really are, yet the songs were so beautiful in an unusual sort of way. I watched the children feast on the cookies and pick up chocolate chips as fast as their little fingers could maneuver and it made me laugh, yet I could not hold back tears as I saw the children light up when their names were called by Santa. “Silent Night” had new meaning as we all sang in unison….”mother and child.” What a rollercoaster! What a day! It was Christmas in its truest form, and it was good . . . but as you can see, it really was “just too much red!”
