It's a Christmas Miracle!

Finished your Christmas shopping yet? Not me. 

When it comes to gift-giving, I envy and admire those who know how to pick out the perfect present. They foster a knack for listening and understanding another’s heart, to know what will bring the recipient joy. I recall once or twice when I’ve managed to hit the bull’s eye, but too often my pragmatic side tends to look for things people can really use or what I think they need rather than what they truly want.

I’d love to give my readers each a Christmas present, too. Something meaningful, memorable, and deeply desired. A Christmas miracle.

A miracle is defined as an event “not ascribable to human power or the laws of nature and consequently attributed to a supernatural, especially divine, agency.” Sometimes thought of as an interruption of the laws of nature, the word “miracle” might also characterize any beneficial event that is statistically unlikely. Or, it could simply describe a wonderful occurrence, such as a birth. Other miracles might be survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a life-threatening situation, or beating the odds. 

You can define your own idea of the word, but let me ask you something. If you could trade all your Christmas presents for one miracle, would you? I suspect most of us would. Everybody needs a miracle. Everybody carries their own private pain, their secrets, and their longings. We live with circumstances we desperately wish we could change, yet feel oh-so-powerless to do so. Failing health, broken relationships, and shattered dreams are universal. If none of those things have intruded on your life yet, they will. You may have already learned that when you think you finally hit rock bottom, something else happens and rock bottom is much deeper than you thought. Often, the pain most difficult to share is the one that cuts the deepest.

Third Day sings a great song with these lyrics:

No matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done
There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own
And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one prayin’

“Lord above, I need a miracle.”

I’m convinced the best gift I could give you—or anyone—is a miracle. Unfortunately, I don’t possess that power. But I know someone who does, and I talk to him daily. So, if you want me to pray for your miracle, send me an email terriejtodd@gmail.com  and tell me what sort of miracle you need. I can’t promise God will answer when you want or in the way you hope. In my experience, he rarely does. 

But I ask anyway, because sometimes he does. And sometimes he provides something better. I ask anyway because he promised to heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds. And I ask because, in all my 54 years, no one has shown me a better alternative.

Here’s what I can promise: I will pray for you and I will not write about you or talk about you. You don’t even need to tell me your name if you don’t want to. I won’t demand your Christmas presents in exchange. I only ask that you let me know if and when your miracle happens, because I could use a faith lift, too.

My offer’s good until Christmas…maybe longer if the miracles start rolling in. If that happens, I’ll consider it the best Christmas shopping ever. And I deeply hope you will consider it the best Christmas present ever.