Do You Believe in Christmas Miracles?

As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us remember some of the miracles of our past Christmases! We should look for opportunities to be someone's Christmas Miracle! I want to share a few examples of Christmas Miracles either from my life or others.

An Angel's Special Gift

After Michelle's injuries as an infant, she was totally disabled and in the care of a loving foster family. During her childhood, her doctors estimated that she would be able to survive into her mid-twenties. On her 19th birthday, she joined our family with several siblings ranging in age from seven up to about 24 years. As Christmas 2011 approached, Michelle was reaching the end, her original foster mom arrived about 1:00am to visit Michelle and spend Christmas with us.
As they were visiting through the morning with Michelle, she was showing clearly the she was ready to leave. We all gathered around her bedside for a brief family prayer. Michelle has completed her mission here on Earth. Imagine, being given the blessing to return to the arms of her Father in Heaven and her Savior on Christmas Eve...to be greeted by members of the only Earthly family she ever knew!
That morning I listened as 11 year old Dallin offered the prayer at breakfast. He offered thanks to Heavenly Father that Michelle could now run and play and sing just as they do! She really is free! We have always considered her passing as a Christmas Miracle
Additionally, someone in our community donated a burial site in the local cemetery.

The Postman Lifted Us From Depression

My parents, at the height of the Depression, were forced to go on home relief, which is known as welfare today. It was 1935, when I was 10 years old, and we lived on the first floor of a walk-up apartment on 43rd Street, in Brooklyn, New York. A few days before Christmas, I looked out a kitchen window to see my father sitting on the stoop, dejected and depressed, with tears in his eyes. The mailman was approaching our building and asked my father what was wrong. I heard my father say that he had used up his food vouchers and that the rent was past due. He had tried to work as a laborer through the Works Progress Administration, but he wasn’t a very strong man, and the work had been too hard for him. I was scared, having seen newspaper pictures of people being put out on the street with all their belongings. “Ike, how much do you need?” the mailman asked. My dad said he needed $33 for the rent, and without hesitation, the mailman took $50 from his wallet and handed it to my father. My dad said, “I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay you back.” The mailman put an arm around my father and said it would be okay if he paid him back or he didn’t pay him back. The mailman noticed me looking through the window and said, “Isaac, things will not be this way forever. If you or your son will remember this day, there will be times in the future when someone needs your help. Help them within your means and tell them what happened this day. This will be my payback. Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah.” As long as he lived, my father helped others when he could, and I’ve done my best to do my part in paying his generosity back. —Martin, Longmont, Colorado

He Fixed My Car, and My Christmas

In 1958, I was a first-year high school teacher in Beatty, Nevada. On Dec. 22, I headed home to Idaho in my 1951 Hudson to spend Christmas with my parents. Just south of Fillmore, Utah, a radiator hose broke and the car started to overheat. I hitchhiked into Fillmore and got a ride to a Chevron station. I explained my plight to the owner, Dan Brinkerhoff, who sent a tow truck to bring in my car. Dan discovered that the engine had become so hot it had warped the head, so he called a nearby wrecking yard and found the needed part. By that time it was dark, and Dan had closed the station. He immediately went to work on my car, laboring for several hours while I slept curled up in the backseat. Finally, he woke me and announced I was ready to go. When I went to settle up, he would not take a dime for anything he had done. I got to spend the holidays with my parents, and I shall forever remember Dan for the wonderful thing he did for me. —Glen, Las Vegas, Nevada

If we each are motivated to show our generousity to others, we will always receive equal or greater value in return!

MERRY CHRISTMAS