In the middle of my third grade year, my kindergarten sister and I found out we would be getting our first jobs and paychecks, or as some people would call it chores and allowance. She would be paid four dollars for swiffering the wood floors and cleaning her room. I would be paid six dollars a week for cleaning the bathroom and my room. But, my parents had yet to tell us that not all of the money would be spent. For me, three dollars would be spent on anything of my choice, two dollars would be saved, and one dollar would go given to our sponsored child, Oliver, in Africa. This was definitely a disappointment to me. The money I could be spending on a candy bar would be going to someone I’d never even met. “Why couldn’t mom and dad pay?” I thought. But now every year when we get a progress report on Oliver I realize my dollar meant more than I thought it did. With that dollar a week, four dollars a month, I was giving food, shelter medical care and an education. I was giving hope. Hope to the life of a third grade child in Uganda.

I’ve also been given hope, we all have. The hope was given to us in human form, on what now is Christmas day. A baby was born inside a stable in the town of Bethlehem. That baby was special. He was Jesus, God’s Son. We needed redemption, we needed a relationship with God, and we needed his unconditional love for us…and God delivered. It was an unusual way, but it was God’s way of sending hope. I need hope. Oliver needs hope. We all need hope.

While my family gives Oliver hope by meeting her physical needs, I’ve learned that what she and all of us need is more than that: it is Christ and his love for all people all around the world. That’s how we all can experience hope.

So, this Christmas remember the gift of hope that God gave us. Remember how in an unusual way redemption, a relationship with God, and the ability to experience his love was given to us. A savior was given to us. Hope was given to us.