The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle

When I was young I had a cub scout leader that led our troop in performing service for the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas where we anonymously left a gift on a family’s doorstep for twelve days. It is a beloved memory that I have often thought back on, so I was excited to find a book that talks about this lovely way of offering Christmas cheer from the perspective of a family of receivers.

The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle begins with a heart-wrenching situation in which a father has unexpectedly died and his family are celebrating their first Christmas without him. The mother is suffering from depression and is unwilling to engage with the holiday, but thanks to a warm-hearted daughter, a well-meaning sister, and a group of anonymous gift-givers, the family is able to pull out of a downward spiral and rekindle the love of family, friends and Christmas in their home. It isn’t until years later that they discover who their anonymous benefactors were and their larger tradition of doing this annually for someone who had had a rough year.

Without leaving too many spoilers, the first half of the book is not for the faint of heart. It was hard to read and my wife only finished the book after I continued on to the end and let her know that a transformation and miracle was actually coming (hey! it was promised in the title).

We’ve been using the ’12 days’ as a framework for celebrating Christmas in our family for some years, but this book makes me want to turn that outward and use it as a way to give cheer at Christmas in the way I was led to as a young cub scout all those years ago. It makes me wonder how many are out there doing anonymous service with this tradition. Maybe you’ll feel similarly inspired. 🙂