Have you considered doing something nice for a person this Christmas, but are wondering if you should? Perhaps it feels awkward? Perhaps you wonder how it will be received?
Let me share my Christmas Miracle and see if that changes your mind. I was a single mom. We had been in hiding for two years, after escaping abuse and attempted manslaughter.
I was now a struggling single mom, with three traumatized kids. I had moved to a new town and didn't have work yet. The idea of Christmas was daunting. I wasn't sure how we would have enough to feed my kids and pay the bills, let alone get gifts for them. It seemed impossible! But God is in the details and he had a plan.
Someone had heard the story of how my seven-year-old son's life was threatened by his dad, and how we fled that very night. They heard of how God had miraculously cared for us in so many ways, helping us to escape the violence, the stalking and the terrifying death threats.
That someone traveled back east and told their family members about God's hand on our life and the crazy nightmare we'd survived. The family ( complete strangers to us,) got that burning sensation in their hearts that they had to act.
Meanwhile, the kids and I were preparing for a humble Christmas. The kids and I would often spend time worshiping together in our living room. As we did one night, we felt the Holy Spirit prompt us to take the food we had left in our cupboard and give it AWAY to someone we knew was in need. The kids and I all prayed and knew God was speaking clearly to our hearts so we obeyed, knowing that we now had nothing left. We had No food, no money in the bank, no options for Christmas, but at that moment we all had complete peace. We knew God had miraculously brought us out of harm's way. He had provided a home for us to stay in, he had answered so many impossible seeming prayers. So we knew God had a plan.
The next day, we opened the mail and there was a cheque, from strangers in Ontario who obeyed God's prompting to provide us with a Christmas. They sent a cheque for $1000. which not only provided gifts for everyone, but food and some money to take care of a few needs.
I often wonder, what would have happened that Christmas if they refused the nudging of the Holy Spirit. I wonder if they realize that their obedience not only gave us a beautiful Christmas but it permanently impacted our faith. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was our provider. I knew that he was now my husband. Even years later I heard one of my kids share this story and how it let them know that they weren't fatherless, God was the good provider and was their father.
Often we don't know even half of the struggles a person is facing. We also don't know the eternal impact that our obedience may have. So if God is prompting you to do something this Christmas for someone..... Do it!
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