Struggling Single Mom Has Barely Any Gifts for Kids And Then a Christmas Day Blessing Appears

Ashlee (Birk) Boyson can still remember the day an unexpected Christmas day blessing changed everything for her struggling family. And the incredible act of kindness from a stranger is what Christmas is all about!

Ashlee (Birk) Boyson is all grown up now. But she can remember a Christmas when she was 11 years old where her single mom, who was struggling just to make ends meet, couldn't afford to buy gifts.

RELATED: 114 Families Were Going To Be Without Power At Christmas But Then A Stranger Stepped In With A Christmas Blessing 

Ashlee's mom came to her in desperation.

"I need your help," she told 11-year-old Ashlee. "The only thing I was able to purchase for you was a nail polish, and this year I need you to be ok with that."

The devastated single mom went on to explain she simply didn't have the money for gifts. This Christmas, there would barely be anything under the tree.

Ashlee's heart broke for her mom and she immediately thought of her younger sisters.

"Do not buy me another thing," Ashlee told her mom. "If you have any money left get something for the little girls."

Knock On Door Announces Christmas Day Blessing

Ashlee recalls watching her siblings open their meager gifts on Christmas morning. 

"It was hard to breathe as I choked back tears," she says. "I wasn’t sad about the presents, but it killed me to watch my mother go around trying to smile—I could see it all over her face…she felt like she had failed us."

But shortly after opening presents, someone knocked on the door. By the time Ashlee and her family made it to the doorstep of their duplex, the person who knocked was gone. But on the porch stood a special Christmas Day blessing!

There at a miniature Christmas tree. But instead of leaves, the tree had tiny rolled-up dollar bills tied with red ribbon.

"I looked up to see my mother’s face -- it was wet from tears -- as she watched us count what felt like a million dollars," Ashlee recalled. "We felt rich that Christmas -- rich in blessings, rich in dollars, and rich in love. Someone loved us enough to know that year…we just needed a tiny sprout of hope, not in a little jolly man in a red suit, but in Christ. They were His hands that day. Angels that dropped off a tiny reminder in that tiny duplex: we were not forgotten."

Passing The Blessings On

Ashlee and her family never forgot the act of kindness from an anonymous Good Samaritan. And years later, they surprised another family-need with a similar Christmas Day blessing. And Ashlee shared her short inspirational Christmas story to remind others what the season is really about.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Church Tips This Pizza Delivery Girl $588 And Reveals God’s Plan

"Heaven is close, there are angels all around us -- some we can see, and others we can only feel," she said. "This Christmas let us always remember the miracles—we even have the power to create some."

LISTEN: Drop the Blanket | The Moment You Never Noticed in A Charlie Brown Christmas

h/t and Featured Image: Love What Matters

Mel is the senior writer for GodUpdates, finding, writing and sharing Christian, uplifting, and health-related stories from around the world. Mel has a passion for writing and graduated with a degree in English from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia. When she’s not researching and writing stories, Mel is very active in her church. You can usually find Mel playing board games with her husband and two young girls, giving someone a hug, or hunting down a good cup of coffee!