Christmas Kettles - is it all about the money?

Some days it seems like it is. But we have really tried to make it be about the people - the people who give, the people who are ringing the bell, the people who are being helped.

Every morning, about 7:30am, somebody starts coffee (it takes forever in those big pots!), and then a while later, Kathleen shows up - she gets breakfast started and people start straggling in, briskly rubbing their hands together because of the cold. Bagged lunches get made and people start searching for their favorite bell in the pile.

After people eat, Don will go over the totals of yesterday, giving kudos where they need to be given, making changes in the schedule when people can't work the whole shift. He often gives a devotion which provides encouragement, sharing with the bellringers the hope and the reason that they are standing out there in the cold, asking people for money - a seemingly, thankless job.

Sometimes in the van on the way to the kettle site, a worker shares prayer requests that need to be prayed for. They ask if they can pick up their toys after the shift is over on distribution day so they can still work. They need off another day to go to their food stamps meeting or to go help their mom with a broken toilet. In short, we talk about life. The good times, the hard times, the mundane things.

We get called sometimes by the store manager for inappropriate behavior - the bell is too loud, the person can't sing as well as they think they can, it's possible they have been drinking (that's the worst), or they suspect the bellringer is taking money (okay, that one is pretty bad, too). It's not easy addressing these issues but we do it with love and kindness.

The days are long - and never ending. We go home, go to bed, and wake up and come back in, feeling as though we never left. We eat fast food (in the van! egads), microwavable food at the corps, and cereal at home because we are too tired to cook. (Frozen waffles are good at any time of day.) The only laundry we need to do is black andwhites because we don't really have time to wear anything else. Our kids have become experts at counting money and know exactly how to divide up the ones and fives.

Is it all worth it? When Gabe and his wife come to church and ask questions about what we believe . .. it's worth it. When Immanuel comes to church and then becomes a permanent fixture in the "family," it's worth it. When Mary May comes to church, and then realizes that she would like to help give music lessons at the Booth Family Center, it's worth it.

And worth is not all about money . . .