DEVOTIONAL STORIES
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It's almost Christmas, and it's hard to believe it's here already. I just had my folks in for a Christmas Eve brunch. It was the first time they had ever had overnight French toast, and they raved about how good it tasted. After they left, I baked some cookies. They're my signature sugar cookies with vanilla frosting and red sprinkles. Well, they're not mine, so to speak, because they're slice-and-bake, but I still shake on a mean red sprinkle. Next on my list is some S'mores brownies for a Christmas Eve party my daughter, Heather, and I have been invited to after we attend our Christmas Eve church service. Before I head back into the kitchen, though, I'm on a break. First, it was a “check my email" break. But it has quickly become a “This has to be a story" break because I have to share what was in my email. Heather and I had packed a shoe box for an Operation Christmas Child project. We always love to do that, deciding from year to year which age group we will shop for and if we will purchase items for a boy or a girl. This year we packed the box for a little girl, and went online to pay for our shipping so we would also be able to track the box. And there it was in my email, the notification that our box had shipped, and it was going all the way to Ecuador. I could just picture it. A little girl, probably with dark eyes and tan skin that would make my fair complexion seem almost transparent, was going to unwrap the little teddy bear and soap and toothbrush and homemade sundress that we had packed for her. And I wished that I could be there at that very moment, to see the smile on her face as evidence of the feeling of love that I hoped and prayed she would feel. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, I wondered if that was what God felt like when Jesus was born. He had waited until just the right time and had sent His gift in just the right way so that the recipients would know how very much He loved them then and loves them now. Do you think He got excited? I sure did. It was just a little box of toys and notebooks, and even though no one else was in the house to hear me, I shouted, "Yay, it's going to Ecuador!" Do you think God shouted to all the angels, "Yay, He's there! He's finally there"?  That's truly Christmas, isn't it--God needing to give all He had so that we would have all we needed? I don't pretend to know how God feels, but I know we're given glimpses of it. And I believe when I caught my breath and saw that my gift was going to connect with a real little girl half-way around the world, I was blessed with one of those glimpses. So, this year, I'm going to try and see Christmas from God's point of view. I'm going to try and feel how He felt when it was time for the angels to appear to the shepherds and He said, "Wait for it. Wait for it. Now!" Merry Christmas. ©2014 Wendi Miller Find Source Information Operation Christmas Child is a program of Samaritan's Purse International Relief. I am not a paid endorser of this program, but I do enjoy supporting its mission and purpose. KEEP READINGComments are closed.
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