Good news. You reach into the pocket of a pair of jeans you haven’t worn in months and find $500 folded inside. For a moment, it feels like found treasure.
It’s Christmastime. Your mind begins to race. This could finally cover the things you didn’t think were possible this year. The list grows quickly.
And then something interrupts the excitement.
A quieter thought settles in. A familiar truth.
The reason for the season.
Christmas isn’t just about gifts received; it’s about the greatest gift ever given.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16)
This is why we give. To celebrate & honor God’s gift to us, and to point others to Jesus.
So now the question changes: How do you spend that $500?
A Lesson Bigger Than a Wishlist
It’s a question many of us wrestle with, and one Legacy’s 4th grade students were invited to explore this December.
First, they were told to imagine they had $500 to spend and were given the Amazon’s Holiday Kids Gift Book to explore. They built wishlists. With wide eyes and big smiles, imaginary shopping carts filled quickly. Some students chose lots of small items; others planned to use their entire $500 on one big dream gift.
A Shift in Perspective
Then, something unexpected happened.
Students were introduced to the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog and suddenly, their understanding of “value” began to change.
They learned things like:
- $70 restores the vision of someone suffering from cataracts
- $250 helps repair a child’s cleft lip
- $10 places a Bible into someone’s hands
- $75 brings clean water to a community
- $14 provides a family with baby chickens to raise
The room grew quieter.
Eyes still shone but now for a different reason. One student reflected:
In the Amazon Toy Catalog, I saw a bunch of stuff that I really like. Like, I found a $200 TV with a voice-activated remote… I thought that I really wanted those and then when I looked in the Samaritan’s Purse catalog and I just saw a bunch of better things than that.
—Emmett Sweeney
Students were then asked to write persuasive essays explaining how they would use the $500 and why. Their writing reflected compassion, sacrifice, and growing faith.
When the essays were collected, each class voted on the top essay from their classroom. Last Wednesday, all three 4th grade classes gathered to hear the results. Mr. Nydam announced that the essays written by Saamset Gemeda, Emmett Sweeney, and Cal Larson had been selected.
In her essay, Saamset shared:
The first item I would donate is 4 bibles for $40. The reason I want to donate 4 bibles is the gift of eternal life is better than any gift.
—Saamset Gemeda
What the students didn’t know was that their essays were more than an exercise.
This wasn’t imaginary money.
The three selected students didn’t just win recognition. They were invited to work together with Mr. Nydam and Mr. Mulvihill over a special lunchtime meeting to decide how to combine the great ideas and make a real $500 donation to Samaritan’s Purse.
Together, the students chose to support the following needs:
- Cataract Surgery: $70
- Cleft Lip/Palate Surgery: $250
- Hot Meals & Feeding Programs: $21
- Goats & Dairy Animals: $70
- Chickens & Poultry Products: $14
- Emergency Food: $35
- Operation Christmas Child Musical Toy Lamps: $10
- Bibles & Christian Literature: $30
On Monday, Dec. 22, Mr. Nydam submitted the donation on behalf of Legacy’s 4th grade students.
Why We Give
At Christmas, we exchange gifts not because it’s tradition, but because we are remembering a gift that changed the world.
Jesus stepped into our brokenness.
He met needs with love.
He gave freely and calls us to do the same.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Through this experience, Legacy’s 4th graders didn’t just learn about generosity—they lived it. And in doing so, they remind all of us that the most meaningful gifts are the ones given away.
