Darrell E. Jensen has been an Iowa farmer 54 years, and every
Christmas remembers the cookies he received as a Marine from his home church, Exira [Iowa] Lutheran.
Cookies to Korea STEVE POPE
Gifts to remember G
Memories show the value of simplicity in our giving
ift giving. This practice, this ritual—especially at this time of year—can be overwhelming and packed with pressure. But it can also be wonderful.
The Lutheran invited readers to tell us about the best gift they’ve given
or received. Many of their stories appear on these pages (find more at www.
thelutheran.org/feature/december). Their experiences aren’t about filling up a cart at the toy store or grabbing a gift card at the grocery checkout. They’re about giving and receiving in the hardest of times, unexpected surprises, making things with our hands, the gift of time and family, and making memories for a lifetime. We offer these stories as a gift to you this season. May they serve as an inspiration for your creativity or remind you of what you really value. And maybe they’ll help you recall one of your cherished gift-giving experiences. As the darkness of Advent descends, let the stories and memories hold you—reflecting, of course, the greatest gift of all: Emmanuel, God with us.
Julie B. Sevig Sevig is an associate editor of The Lutheran. 20 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Back around Christmas in 1954, I was serving with the Marines in Korea on the DMZ. It was a very cold winter. One evening I went to the HQ tent to see if I had any mail. I had some letters and was about to leave when told I also had a box. Back at our squad tent, I held it up to the gas lantern, our only light, and discovered it was from “The Exira Lutheran Church.” Opening it, I found a box full of homemade cookies. What a treat! I passed them around the tent to the other Marines, and soon the cookies were gone. All the years since, I don’t think a Christmas goes by where I don’t recall that cold Christmas in Korea and that wonderful box of cookies
from the ladies’ circle at my church. Darrell E. Jensen
Exira [Iowa] Lutheran Church
Giving & getting We had two friends with a toddler who were back in school again and living with her parents. Knowing that money was tight for them, we gave them two big Land’s End can- vas bags full of groceries for Christ- mas. They told us years later how much that meant to them. One of the best presents I
received was a wedding present from someone who wasn’t even invited to the wedding but came as a guest. It was a wooden ironing board. I don’t know how she knew
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