Christmas Season (2007 and 2008)
The Christmas Seasons of 2007 and 2008 went better than expected. Christmas Jars continued to sell, doubling and tripling in sales from the previous years. In 2008 the sales hit a milestone that I could never have imagined! Although I can't share that information, believe me, it was mind boggling.
By 2008 my coworkers rolled their eyes every time I asked a customer if they had read Christmas Jars. They were convinced that there was not a person left in the area who had not already heard of the book! I took their eye rolling, jokes, and jabs and continued on with sharing the message of the book!
The Christmas Jar tradition began to really catch on and become a movement of its own. I began seeing customers from the previous two years returning to buy more books for more friends and they began sharing with me their own Christmas Jar stories.
Some of the recipients of jars that year included a homeless man who spent his days sleeping in our store, a woman raising her best friends grandchildren because her friend had passed away and the mother of the children was in prison for abusing and neglecting the children, several people who were struggling with medical bills received a jar, a family who couldn't afford to put presents under the tree, a single mother who couldn't afford to pay the electric bill so she and her children had no heat and the list goes on and on.
People ask me if I get more out of giving away my own jar or hearing that someone else is giving away a jar. Without any hesitation hearing that someone else is giving away a jar means more. It's evidence that the Christmas Jar ministry is growing and spreading. In 2009 it grew exponentially and spread to all corners of this country and beyond as we (friends and family) found homes for jars in all 50 states and 11 countries.
Now the journey to 1,001 JARS really begins.....
No comments:
Post a Comment