The Christmas Spirit

I had an experience the other night that reminded me of a tradition my family used to have.
We had a little wooden manger and for each good deed we did we got to put a straw in the manger.
The goal was to do enough kind things to put enough straw in the manger to have a comfortable bed for baby Jesus on the morning of Christmas.
I loved this tradition. I remember my siblings and I being very enthusiastic about it.

On the way home from a sushi date night with my husband and in-laws we nearly ran over two dogs.
One big black one which could hardly be seen in the dark of the night, and a little white one that looked like a puppy.
They were weaving in and out of the road on 1100 North in Pleasant Grove.
We continued up the hill a little ways before deciding that we needed to go get those dogs and find their owners before they got hit by a car.
Heading back down the hill we spotted them pretty quick.
After pulling over the big black dog easily came over to see us.
He was well-trained and loved being petted.
The little white one was really timid. The black dog had to go over to her and tell her it was okay before she followed him over to us.
Luckily they both had tags on so we called the number.
The lady who answered was bawling. She said that they had been missing for five hours.
They came and picked them up and we continued home.
The next day my father-in-law got a text from the same lady saying...
 "Thank you and your darling family for taking the time to stop and return our dogs to us. Words can't express how grateful we are to you. You reminded us that there are still good people in the world, thank you and Merry Christmas."

Without even thinking much of it we made that little family's night.
What a good reminder of what the Christmas season is really about, serving others.
May our eyes be open to the need in the world around us.