Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright is a phenomenal book. Although I have never heard of this author before, I would definitely read any of his other books. Jason does an amazing job in his writing. He makes it interesting and adds lots of little details. Christmas Jars was certainly no exception. Christmas Jars takes place in a modern day world. However, it does not just take place during the Christmas season as the title may suggest. This book is not a story about Three Wise Men, nor it is about Sugar Plums dancing in your head. This "Christmas" book gives insight on what it means to truly give and the self-satisfaction you receive when you do.
Single woman, Louise Jensen was not expecting much more out of her New Years Eve dinner than some yummy food to fill her up. However, she got much more then she bargained for. Louise found a baby that night, it was lying in the booth next to her and had a note attached explaining that the mother of the baby didn't want the child to get hit by her husband like she did. Because of this, she chose to give the baby up and in turn give her baby some hope. Louise takes the child and raises her as her own. Because of the "gift" her birth-mother gave her, Louise names the child Hope.
Hope grows up into a beautiful young-lady with a witty personality and one heck of a brain. From the age of six she knows that she wants to be a writer when she grows up and create interesting stories for newspapers. Everything seems to be going perfect for her in her teenage years. She gets an intern job at the local newspaper and eventually is offered a paying job. But then her whole world falls apart. Her mother, Louise, is diagnosed with cancer and dies within three months of her diagnoses. This crushes Hope. On top of it all, Hope's apartment gets ransacked exactly one year from her mother's death. Hope feels lost, all her savings and everything that she had of any value was stolen. She is left with no money and does not know how to continue. That's when the miracle happens. A jar shows up on her doorstep full of money. Hope realizes that this money not only gives her strength, but also gives her motivation to keep going.
This "Christmas Jar" sparks Hope's curiosity. She decides to track down who started this Christmas tradition and make a newspaper story out if it. While Hope figures out this mystery, she makes new friends and learns what giving and receiving is really all about. As it turns out, Hope is linked closer to the start of the "Christmas Jar" then she ever thought possible.
As this book clearly states, "It's the thought that counts." Many people are struggling in their lives. However, often all they need is a little pick-me-up to know that someone cares and that they do need to keep going. This book teaches the best lesson. Service has a "snow-ball" effect. If you do service to a family in need, the family in need will feel blessed and want to pass along the service. This will just keep going. Both families feel blessed. Often all that it takes to change the world is a little kindness.
This book was amazing, it was a good, well-written story. It also follows the Hero's Journey quite closely. But, my favorite part of this book was all of the motivation it gives you. You can change the world by just one simple act of kindness. Whether Christmas or not, I would highly suggest reading this book.