Visiting some kids in need at Christmas

On Sunday afternoon December 17, I was part of a great event. My wife and two kids (they're both in college but they're still kids to me :), along with a group of people from our church, helped out at a Christmas party. We've all been to Christmas parties before, but this one was a little different.

This Christmas gathering was held at a juvenile detention center in Pasco county, about 30 minutes north of where we live. This facility houses both boys and girls (separately) that range in age from 8 to 18. Can you imagine - how messed up must your family be, to be in jail at age eight? A lot of these kids don't even have what we would think of as a "family" - most of them don't get visitors at all. So Christmas time is an especially difficult time for them.

Our group stuffed over a hundred huge Christmas stockings with all kinds of goodies and brought them out to the kids. We had a big Christmas dinner, sang Christmas carols and gave the kids their gifts. They all got their own stuffed stocking, and they also got a couple of new televisions and DVD players, along with some DVDs.

What impressed me was how well-behaved the group was. You wouldn't have known that they were being detained here because of breaking the law. They were very grateful, and said so many times. It was a wonderful experience, and it made me thankful that my children have never gotten into trouble or had the problems that some of these kids have experienced.

I encourage you to take a little time and volunteer for something like this. It really puts the Christmas season back into perspective.