Perspective

WOW...what a finish to the Kettle campaign!!! December 23rd was a record kettle day for Fredericksburg - $11,000+, and our first day over $10,000 and a record that lasted one day. On Christmas Eve, we raised $13,500 - an absolutely staggering total. We left the office at 8:30 last night tired and very happy. Then, at about 10:30PM, my wife read an e-mail about a fellow Salvation Army Officer, Major Phillip Wise. I met Phillip some years ago as he was temporarily in charge of the Prince William Corps in Virginia, and later as the Assistant Corps Officer in Portsmouth, VA.

At about 4:15PM Phil, with his three young children (ages 4, 6 & 8) had just dropped two bell ringers off at their homes and returned to the Little Rock Area Command when he was held up at gun point by two young men asking for money (I presume he had kettles, but that is not yet confirmed) who then shot him dead in front of his children. Suffice to say, the euphoria over the tremendous kettles turned into deep reflection.

This morning I shared a happy time of with my wife and children aged 10, 8 & 5, but my thoughts were with a family not very different from ours. A Dad who had toiled his way through a Kettle program, who was returning the last kettles of the season preparing to have a great Christmas celebration with his children...only for his life, a woman's husband, and the father of three children to be taken forever because of a bit of money.

This morning I have taken the time to hug my wife and children just a bit more, I have slowed down to watch them and cuddle them and to tell them that I love them. I realize that tomorrow cannot be assumed for any one of us, and that the gift of today will never come again. Christmas, therefore, must be a day for rejoicing over what we have and, through all the tinsel, lights and presents, realize that the value of Christmas Day is celebrating the birth of Christ with the people that you love.