A Miracle for the Children's Sake:
The family was excited that year. The children patiently having eaten the individual chocolates from their Advent calendar, leading up to that special day. The family was a close family. The mother, father and three children, two girls and one boy lived in the country. They had a small farm on which they grew corn and beets. For the cooler months of winter, the animals on the farm were stabled in the heated barns. The revenue of the farm was just enough to pay the bills. With what little they had remaining, each month, they would buy food and provide for the needs of their children. It had been a hard couple of years. In spite of the difficulties, the family made due. And they seemed to have been getting along fine.
Two nights before Christmas, the mother went out to the shopping centre. It was a three hour drive into the city. She had left the father with the children even though she knew he would be sleeping on the couch as it was already late in the evening. She had with her the little list that each of their children had prepared for Santa. She had these lists tightly pressed into her purse so that she wouldn’t lose them. And finally, arriving at the mall after the long ride, she opened the car door, stepped out and stretched her feet. There were not many cars in the parking lot. She had planned it to be that she would arrive at the mall an hour before closing to avoid heavy traffic. Entering the mall, she was welcomed by strings of colorful lights dangling from the ceilings and then down a long and wide hall, there was a sign on which read, “Remembering the reason for the season!” above the text, a Cross. A bit further into the hall, sat a mound of presents on top of which sat a jolly man with a white beard and a big, red suit. Even at this hour of the night, there was a long lineup for Santa. She withdrew the lists from her purse and made a little plan for which stores she should visit.
She was able to finish her shopping right at the mall’s closing time. She was carrying two big bags, filled to the brim with toys and as she carried them slowly back to the family car, the mall security wished her a Merry Christmas at the door. And opening the trunk of her car, she loaded the bags into it and once again, checked through the bags to ensure she had everything. Then closing the trunk, she got into the driver’s seat and a feeling of satisfaction came over her. Thinking of the expressions on her children’s faces a couple mornings from then made the dent the presents put into their finances completely worth it. Of course it was worth it. Her children’s happiness was the most valuable thing to her. She knew in her heart that her husband felt the same. And pleased as she was, thinking of her children’s reactions, she put the radio on to celebrate her uplifted mood. And turning the car’s engine on, she backed out of the spot she was in and drove away slowly through the lot until she got to the exit to the main road. Jingle Bell Rock was on the radio and as she sang pleasantly along with it, she turned the car onto the road where she accelerated and drove away. It wasn’t until she was turning onto the freeway onramp, accelerating quickly and to higher speeds, that she realized the trunk of her car was open. And so, carefully and slowly, she pulled over to the side of the road where she turned off the engine and got out. A feeling of dread and terror came over her as thoughts entered her head of what may have happened. And rounding the back of the car, her fears were confirmed. Both bags of gifts had fallen out. She allowed herself to calm by breathing deeply but the shame and hurt she felt was increasing. It was dark out then and any attempts she could make to go back, in search of the gifts, she imagined was futile. She was very angry with herself and sat for a moment in the driver’s seat, thinking what she could do next, what she could say to her husband. How could she make this right with her children? Knowing they would love her in spite of this broke her heart even more. Resigned, she started the car and drove off in the direction of her home. And coming into her long driveway, she stopped the car in front of the house and thought again. Softly lowering her eyes, she let her eye lids close and she prayed. She prayed for a miracle. And waiting in the still silence after she had prayed, the silence seemed deafening. She opened the door quietly and entered and was greeted by her husband. He inquired about the gifts. She looked down and told him what had happened. He assured her that everything would be alright, that mistakes happen and that her children would understand. Somehow, her husband’s assurances didn’t make her feel better. She prayed again that evening before she went to sleep. Praying desperately for a miracle for her children’s sake. And as her husband went to sleep, he beckoned her to come to bed. Instead, she just continued to pray. Finally, an hour later she went to sleep.
The following day, they gathered their children together and they told them about their family’s financial struggles. They told them the true meaning of Christmas was all that was important. They told them all of this in a way to prepare the children for the next morning. The day passed quickly and the children’s excitement seemed to only increase after they had been told this. In the morning, the husband drove into the city, retracing the route that she had taken but when he returned, he hadn’t found anything.
Until Christmas morning, the parents had gathered around the Christmas tree in the early hours of the morning. And though it wasn’t the husband’s normal behavior, he joined his hand with his wife’s and prayed. Until, the first of their children got up. They could hear their feet on the floorboards upstairs. And next, the sound of steps descending the stairs, only increasing in speed as they neared the ground floor. And next, faces peering around the corner of the wall into the room.
And there the parents sat solemnly and distraught. The children quickly surveyed the room and entered after. One by one, the expressions on each of their faces sank. And one by one, they sat next to their parents. One of the children, the youngest started to cry softly but with restraint. The oldest girl held out her hand to her mother and said, “That’s okay, mommy. We have you and that’s all that matters. We have each other. We all have our health. Most of all, we all know Jesus loves us.” She smiled at her mother. Her mother sadly returned the smile.
At that moment, there was a knock on the front door of the country house. They each looked at each other, questioningly. The father, rising went to the door and asked forcefully, “Who is it?”
The response simply came, a young man’s voice, “It’s Santa.”
He turned away from the door to find his family standing behind him at the door. The husband looked away and said, “Surely, we should not answer the door for someone who is announcing their presence like this.”
The mother sighed, “Nonsense,” and rushing past him, she drew aside the door. Upon opening it, her face lit up and tears began to fall from her eyes. The sight on the other side filled her heart with joy and as she drew the door aside more so that her husband could see, he looked at her questioningly.
A man and two young women were standing outside. They were holding the bags that she had lost. She was overjoyed and ran down the steps to take the bags from them. As she took them, she looked each of them in the eye. The shock was too strong to think about asking how them how they found them. The husband came and helped her with the bags and after he took them inside, she asked them finally how they found the owners of these gifts. They told her, muffling back tears of joy themselves that they had witnessed the bags falling from a car in a parking lot and had opened a card in one of the bags looking to see if they could find the identity. And discovering a family name in the card, they had called the teledirectory where they found her address.
“I’m only sorry I couldn’t have gotten them back to you yesterday,” the man said.
“Are you kidding?” She sighed a breath of joy, “You answered many prayers for a miracle for my family and I.”
He looked downward. “I don’t have much family, myself. I’m glad to help and to make your family happy. We wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas.” They were about to turn around and walk away, when the husband came out from the door where he was waiting and called to them. “Wait! What are you doing for Christmas? Do you have anywhere to go?” The husband looked at the wife and smiled.
“Not really,” they said quietly.
“Why don’t you join us?”
The family invited the man and the two girls into their home. And the three strangers watched with joy as the children opened the gifts in the bag one by one. And they ate.
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