Every Christmas tree I design has a keepsake golden coin hidden in its branches. Before the season ends, someone in each home or business finds it.
And once they know why it’s there, they never forget.
Every last penny counted.
Years ago, on Christmas Eve, my two sons tore apart our couch cushions looking for coins. Our homey little two-bedroom apartment became a treasure hunt, and they searched every corner like that loose change was gold.
To them, it was a game.
To me, it was a prayer.
What my boys didn’t know was that their mama’s bank account had slipped into the red. One thirty-four-dollar overdraft fee was more than I could carry that Christmas.
We fed every last coin into the coin exchange machine at the grocery store. I watched the number climb, one humble coin at a time. Then I took those bills to the ATM and held my breath.
Just enough. Just barely enough to get back above the red.
Praise God.
My boys had no idea they had just helped their mama pull off a Christmas miracle.
There weren’t many gifts under our tree that year. But that tree glowed like something out of a storybook.
I’ve always collected Christmas décor and had a way of making my tree beautiful. I poured everything into it because it was the one thing I could still give them.
They never knew how hard it was. All they knew was the magic. In our spirit. In our home. In the glow of that tree.
That’s my story. And it’s my boys’ story too.
This was never my magic. It was always His.
Two things can be true at once: it was a difficult season, and it was a beautiful one. The hardship was real. So was the faithfulness of God. He provided. He taught us. He never left us, even when providing for my children on my own felt too heavy to carry.
God took the loose change my boys dug out of our couch and turned it into gold.
The same good Father who gave us His Son, Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit is why I keep going. What He has entrusted to me, I want to use to honor Him and love others: in how I mother, create, lead, and serve. To minister His gospel through the words I speak and the life I live.
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” — 1 John 4:9–10, NIV
A love that came to us. A love that sacrificed for us. The love we celebrate at Christmas.
Jesus will always be the reason for the season.
Our story is growing into a mission.
A portion of every sale at The GraceMade Collective goes to our partner, Mission Outreach America, a developing nonprofit that provides covering for single moms and single dads. The kind of covering I once prayed for, longed for, and needed.
Because somewhere out there is a single parent, just like I was. A mom. A dad. Doing the math at the kitchen table after the kids fall asleep. Smiling for their babies so they won’t see the worry. Wondering how they’re going to make Christmas happen.
And then, a tree shows up. Lights. Ornaments. Gifts for their babies underneath.
For one night, they don’t have to hold it all together by themselves. Someone they’ve never met has said, “I see you. I know your heart. You’re not alone.”
This giving initiative changes a Christmas. And sometimes, a Christmas changes a life.
I know. Because one changed mine and my sons’.
And now, look at the work God has given us to do.
Every last penny matters.
Family sponsorship opportunities are taking shape. Wherever you are in the world, you can be part of this too.
One family. Two. Ten. However many God places on your heart.
Your sponsorship puts a full Christmas tree, gifts and all, in a single parent’s home, giving their children a Christmas remembered for the magic, the joy, and the love that surrounded them.
That is the heart of this movement: to put God’s love and provision on display through the kindness and generosity of others.
God helped my boys make a miracle out of loose change. Every last penny counted for my sons and me. Now, every last penny matters.
This is The GraceMade Collective.
Because every home deserves a magical tree.
Especially the ones that think they’ll never have one.
Share this with the single parent trying to make Christmas magic on a tight budget this year. Let it carry this hope: God sees your family. Your story is still unfolding. This Christmas could be a miraculous one for you, too.
Save it for the day you need the reminder that miracles can begin with the faith to place your little in God’s hands and trust Him with what comes next.