Tis the Season

So last night my family and I were scheduled to ring The Salvation Army Bell in front of a local store here in Fargo.  What an amazing experience.  A lot of our friends have done this in the past and we had always “thought” about doing it but we never found the time.  Well, this year was going to be different.  We were going to find the time and it we couldn’t find it we were going to make it!  So last night, we got all the kids bundled up and went out and did our shift ringing the bell from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM and I have to say it was a great time.  All the kids were excited, a lot of the people walking in and out of the stores were excited!  The night wasn’t without its issue, but that is to be expected with a larger group.  One of the highlights of my night though was when my 6 year old boy Jaxon asked me where the money that everyone was putting in the “bucket” goes.  I told him that the money goes to help other kids and families that aren’t as lucky as we are.  He proceeds to ask about what kinds of things the money buys…and his eyes get big and says TOYS!  I tell him that maybe toys but mostly food and clothes that people need.  I told him there are lots of little boys and girls out there who don’t even have a coat to wear on a cold night like tonight.  He appeared to be satisfied by this answer and went back to ringing the bell.  About 20 minutes later he came up to me and asked if he could “talk” to me….over there and pointed to a place where no one was.  I walked over with him and leaned down so he could whisper in my ear, since that is what he wanted.  He then asked the coolest question.  He asked me if next year, he could ring the bell with just me on our daddy day.  I am not the most emotional guy in the world, but I’ll tell ya, this almost brought a tear to my eye.  Here is a 6 year old, who gets a few “daddy” days a year and he wants to spend his day with me ringing a bell to help other people.  How cool is that!

All in all, a good night was had and hopefully all 6 of my children got a little dose of what Christmas really IS all about.