Thanksgiving has past and Christmas is upon us….my favorite time of the year! I love everything about Christmas; from, shopping, baking, the decorations….but especially the miracles….the remarkable things that happen to make the season even more special. The thing I have discovered about miracles is that we have to look for them and recognize where they come from.
God’s miracles are all around us everyday, but He always seems to send a special one my way during the Christmas season. I didn’t start looking for these miracles really until after I was married and had my kids. Money was always tight, but we always managed to have plenty under the tree and lots of good food. I tried to teach my kids that it truly is more blessed to give than receive and the thought behind a gift was more important than the gift itself.
One such Christmas when money was tight, I went shopping…. hoping to find the three things my kids had requested… at a price I could afford. My oldest daughter wanted a big baby doll; no specific one, just one that did something and was the size of a real baby. My other daughter wanted skates and my son was hoping for a light-up sword like the one used by his favorite cartoon character.
The Target in our area was having a special before-Christmas clearance sale, so i prayed and off I went. It turned out to be a huge sale and prices were really slashed on some items. I quickly found the sword and skates, then went in search of a baby doll. There were very few life-size baby dolls with a price I could afford. I was feeling disappointed and ready to give up, when I looked down and saw her….a Baby doll that walked when you held onto her hands and said “bye bye.” The clearance sticker said, $5.85. I grabbed her up and looked around. There were others on the shelf just like her and their price was $15.99. The only thing I saw wrong with the one I held was the plastic cover on the lid was torn….would they mark it down that much just because of that?
I placed the doll in the cart and headed for the check-out line. They probably put the wrong price sticker on it, I thought, bracing myself….but when they rung the doll up, it said clearly: $5.85. I hurried home with my purchases and thanked God for His help in finding everything, especially the doll.
As Christmas approached, another problem arose. My husband, who was a truck driver, wasn’t sure he would make it home by Christmas Eve. He had extra stops to make and the roads and weather might make it impossible for him to arrive home till some time Christmas Day. I didn’t say anything to the kids other than, “Daddy might be a little late.” Christmas morning was always a big deal for them, getting up to find what Santa had left under the tree. Please God, I prayed let their dad get here in time.
As bedtime neared, the kids began to ask, “Where’s Daddy? Why isn’t he home yet? Is he going to be here for Christmas?” Finally, the phone rang and it was Jim, my husband. The last delivery went quicker than usual and the roads were not bad, so he would be home soon. I let the kids stay up to greet him and we all met him at the door with hugs and kisses. It was a wonderful Christmas….and I made sure my daughter knew who her new baby doll was really from.
A few years ago, 1n 2010, my Christmas miracle came a little early. At the beginning of December we received a recall notice from the manufacturer of our van. We were advised to bring the vehicle in for repairs on the back axle as they had been found unsafe and likely to break. My husband dropped me off at work and took the van in to be checked out. When he picked me up at the end of the day, he drove up in a small, square-shaped vehicle that resembled a jeep. “What in the world are you doing with this?” I asked as I climbed in. I had never seen anything like it on the road before….but I don’t pay too much attention to cars.
“It’s a Kia,” he said. “They gave it to us to drive while the van is being fixed.”
“Well, they better hurry up and get it done, ” I said, not looking forward to driving it myself.
The next day was Saturday and I had to run to the bank….in the Kia. As I left the house it started to mist a little outside. The bank wasn’t far away so I hurried and did my transaction. As I pulled away from the bank, I fumbled with the window button. I hadn’t had a problem putting it down, but how in the world did I get it to go back up? I had an opening in traffic so pulled out on the street just as it started to snow. Unable to get the window up, I pulled over to try to figure it out….along with the windshield wipers. Finally, I got the wipers on but I gave up on the window. I pulled back out and drove the few blocks home with the snow blowing and my ears freezing. Almost in tears, I ran into the house and told Jim I could not get the window to go back up and it was snowing. “I hate that car!” I said.
By Sunday the snow was gone and the streets were clear so I headed out to do some afternoon shopping….but not before I knew exactly how everything on the Kia worked. The window button had a little lip at the end, which I had not found before, to put it back up. Out on the road, I noticed how smoothly the car ran. The heater warmed up quickly and it was so easy to handle….maybe this car wasn’t so bad after all.
Back at work on Monday everybody was asking about the 2010 Kia. Who, they wondered, had gotten a new car? I explained to them why I was driving it and that it was only temporary. The more I drove it the more I enjoyed it and began to appreciate the fact that we had been given such a new car. I thought of it as my miracle from God that Christmas….and we got to drive it for three months because the dealership had so many vans to repair it took that long to get ours done.
These might seem like little miracles, or simply blessings to some, but to me it was God’s way of reminding me that I matter to Him. He takes time often just to remind us who He is and how much He loves us. He cares about the things that concern us and is always there to help. As we all get busy with our holiday plans and activities this year let’s take time to remember Him….the real reason for Christmas…. and all the miracles and blessings He gives us every day. Let us share the joy of His birth with those who don’t know Him by sharing His story and the greatest gift of all, His love and forgiveness. Look around, His miracles are everywhere!
