Fishers of Men Blog: "Christmas Time at the Zaragoza House" by Ashleigh

Hello it’s me again! :) I asked Julie if I could blog again and share some of the things that I noticed about the Zaragoza family while I was in Mexico for Adrian and Vero’s wedding. She was very obliging and now here I sit typing.

Most of you know that I lived at Refuge Ranch for a little over two years. Most of you have also probably read in past blogs and emails that Christmas time in the Zaragoza house are often not quite as merry as you might find them in your home. Christmas time is family time. For children who have to face the fact that they don’t have biological family who want them this unearths feelings and hurts that get buried during the everyday monotony. They have to face the fact that they didn’t have Christmas before living as a Zaragoza. They missed out on years of “normal family things” and Christmas is one of them.

My first year in Mexico I got the whole family a gift thinking that it would be easier and less expensive since I really had no idea what to get each person. But as we lived day in and day out during the month of December and I watch many of the children not be able to embrace the festivities my heart began to pray for a way to help the kids engage in the joy of Christmas. I didn’t want them to miss more years before they embrace the joy and lived fully in what God was giving them now. A perfect example of this was while we decorated the Christmas tree that first year I was in Mexico there was one who adamantly refused to put a single decoration on the tree. There was no way they were going to participate in decorating the tree at all. My heart hurt for the pain that I know was causing this even if they didn’t understand the connection.

The following year I knew something had to change. I wanted my gift to be filled with meaning. I realized that it would probably not be received well but I had to start somewhere. God gave me the idea of giving each of the children a Christmas ornament of their own to put on the tree. Something to help them “own” a piece of Christmas. I didn’t want to just go out and buy some snowman ornament. That would be to easy and cheap on a significance level. I wanted this gift to be heavy with significance and love. While out shopping I found this little stand that was selling clay Christmas ornaments that were simple and really pretty. I bought enough for all of the kids and hand painted each one with their favorite colors giving them unique patterns. I also applied glitter for the younger kids to make them sparkle. I did some research and purchased a CD online with the families favorite Spanish christian artists singing Christmas songs. I was really excited! This was turning out good!

One of the Sundays before Christmas I put the music in after we got home from church as we were preparing/eating dinner. By the end of dinner all of the older kids disbanded to their rooms making comments about how the music was depressing and they didn’t want to hear it. Now, I will admit, for someone who usually listens to Christmas music in July while I am canning that was hard to take! Christmas music is exhilarating to me!

When I gave them their gifts there were several disappointed faces in the group. That was the last things they really wanted to get. Many of those ornaments never actually made it to the tree. They were taken to their rooms and eventually lost, hidden in the back of some nook or cranny or broken. Some of the younger kids played with theirs until they fell and broke as well. To tell you the absolute truth that doesn’t bother me one bit. I had made a little dent in something and I wasn’t giving up!

Last year I was living back here in the states. I went shopping and found ornaments for each of the children. I wrapped them all and wrote out a note for each of them. I boxed them up and sent them praying that the box would make it all the way to the Zaragoza family. God answered that prayer and I was very thankful.

This year I got to take the ornaments down! I picked them out, I wrapped them up and I had the kids open them one by one so that I could get pictures of them (which you will get to see in a minute). There wasn’t one face that didn’t smile. Not one! That surprised me! What a journey these young hearts have been on and what changes God has worked. It may seem like a small thing but when it is a natural response you know it is where their hearts truly are right now. They are learning to smile more, embrace family things, enjoy Christmas and in the process are being transformed into the likeness of our Savior. On top of all of that I heard several of the older girls humming Christmas songs as they were on the computer or working around the house. The very same one who thought it was depressing three years ago was humming “Silent Night”. It was springing up from within because they were choosing to allow God to replace pain with His joy.

Now for the promised pictures.