Jesus said, “Whatever you’ve done unto the least of these (kids or adults), you’ve done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40, KJV).

Kids like me are kids and adults of all ages whose parents are, or were, drug addicts and alcoholics, kids who have suffered, or who are suffering, abuse and neglect on multiple levels, and kids who are victims of bullying.

Wow. Another year, another Kids Like Me Christmas Toy/Food/Warm Clothing Drive - has passed. This is the first year we have been short on donations but thanks to Dr. Troy and her sister, Sherry, Erwin Young, Rosalie Martinez, Sherri Valdez and her wonderful staff, Ivette Atencio, Marcie Shultz (Shultz Realty), New Hope Church in South Fork, our friends in town, and out of town, who sent donations, and the Church of Christ at 408 Victoria, Alamosa, who donated a myriad of things remaining from the Church of Christ Disaster Relief Program in Nashville, Tennessee - we were able to help Kids Like Me in the San Luis Valley have a better Christmas. On behalf of Kids like Me, Thank You!!

The reason the Kids Like Me Christmas Toy/Food/Warm Clothing Drive is so important to me is because I don’t want other kids to go through what I did when I was a kid, living in the hell of my mother’s addiction.

I want to share three special-somethings with you that are really special to me about this Christmas. I know a very special little boy who lived in the same hell with his parents that I lived in with my parents, my step-dad, and all the other addict creeps my mother exposed me to. Just like me, this little boy was dragged all over the country and exposed to the same, unbelievable, incomprehensible horrific abuse and neglect that is part of the insanity of drug addiction when helpless infants and children are involved. The normal human brain cannot conceive the horrors that the child of an addict endures; many of us do not survive it.

Well, this little boy is now safe with his granny who loves him dearly, and he LOVES her! He is finally safe, clean, has healthy food in his tummy, has a bath every night, has a toothbrush and toothpaste to brush his teeth every day, has clean clothes to wear, a clean bed to sleep in, he goes to school regularly now, he knows he is loved, and his granny reads to him, tells him often that she loves him, is teaching him about Jesus and is teaching him how to pray. I am so thankful for him, that he is finally safe with his dear granny.

Another special-something about this Christmas is that one of the families I had the privilege to serve this Christmas included an amazing great grandmother who has custody of her great granddaughters. What on earth would Kids Like Me do without our grandmothers or without the special someone who takes us in when our parents are lost in the insanity of addiction!

The other special-something I am thankful for is that my friend, Mr. Erwin Young, survived the stroke the stinking-devil hit him with the morning of November 1st, this year. I love my friend and I am so thankful he survived and is getting better every day. Thank You, Jesus!

Every Christmas I watch The Muppet Christmas Carol which is based on Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. The cast is made-up of the Muppets, and Michael Caine who portrays Ebeneezer Scrooge. Please don’t think it’s too stupid to watch just because it’s the Muppets. This movie is funny and truly warms-your-heart. If you haven’t seen it, please watch it. One of the songs in this movie is called, It Feels Like Christmas, and I want to share the lyrics with you because they’re true and I know this because my grandmother’s love feels like Christmas:

It Feels Like Christmas

(by Paul Williams)

It’s in the singing of a street corner choir

It’s going home and getting warm by the fire

It’s true, wherever you find love

It feels like Christmas

A cup of kindness that we share with another

A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother

In all the places you find love

It feels like Christmas

It is the season of the heart

A special time of caring

The ways of love made clear

It is the season of the spirit

The message, if we hear it

Is make it last all year

It’s in the giving of a gift to another

A pair of mittens that were made by your mother

It’s all the ways that we show love

That feel like Christmas

A part of childhood that we’ll always remember

It is the summer of the soul in December

Yes, when you do your best for love

It feels like Christmas

Yes, when you do your best for love

It feels like Christmas.

Until next time, remember, Jesus Loves You, and JESUS IS LORD!