Ashlee (Birk) Boyson can still vividly recall the day when an unexpected blessing on Christmas day turned everything around for her financially struggling family. And the most important part of Christmas is an outstanding act of charity performed by a complete stranger.

Ashlee’s mother made a last-ditch effort to contact her daughter.

Ashlee, who was just 11 years old at the time, was informed, “I need your aid, the only present I was able to get for you was a nail polish, and I need you to be okay with that this year,” she said.

The single mother went on to explain that she just did not have the financial means to purchase presents. This coming Christmas, there won’t be anything under the tree for anybody to open.

Ashlee admonished her mother to refrain from acquiring any more items for her, “If you still have any money, you should acquire something for the small girls,” she said.

On Christmas morning, Ashlee remembers watching as her siblings opened the few presents they had received.

“I was choking back tears and finding it difficult to breathe,” she recalls, “I wasn’t upset about the gifts, but it hurt me to see my mother walk around trying to smile when she felt like she had let us down.

I could see it all over her face.” However, not long after receiving gifts, the doorbell rang, and someone was there.

When Ashlee and her family finally made it to the front door of their duplex, the individual who had knocked on the door had already left. However, there was a very unique Christmas blessing waiting for them on the doorstep!

A little Christmas tree may be seen at that spot. However, instead of leaves, the tree was covered with little rolled-up dollar bills that were secured with a crimson ribbon.

Ashlee remembered, “I glanced up to see my mother’s face; it was wet from tears as she watched us count what seemed like a million dollars,” and she continued, “I looked up to see my father’s face; it was dry from laughter.”

“During that Christmas, we felt wealthy in every sense of the word: rich in blessings, rich in riches, and rich in love. Someone cared about us enough to realize that year that all we needed was a glimmer of hope.

The random gesture of charity that Ashlee and her family received from a Good Samaritan is one that they will never forget.

And then a number of years later, they surprised another family in need with a blessing of the same kind on Christmas Day.

And Ashlee reminded everyone else of the reason for the season by telling them a brief but uplifting Christmas story that she had.