“Up to this time, I was a scoffing skeptic and I had steered clear of all things religious.”
One Christmas, since I’ve fooled everyone into thinking I’m an adult, stands above the rest. I get the “warm fuzzies” every time I think of it, and sometimes even shed a tear or two. It had nothing to do with children, or presents, or any of the other tinselaneous finery that usually accompanies the way we celebrate the Season.
Sheila and I had just moved from Peterborough to Toronto and Ontario in particular, was in the midst of a terrible economic recession. Work was almost impossible to find. I remember trying to get a job, any job, but to no avail. Fortunately, Sheila got a job in a paint store. It was for minimum wage, but at least it was a job! Meanwhile, in between pounding the pavement for a job, I had started reading the Bible for the first time (neither Sheila nor I were Christians at the time). Every day I would sit down and read the special Hour of Power Large Print King James Bible that my Aunt Vera gave me on my thirteenth birthday. Now, when I say I read it every day, I mean I would sit down and read for a couple of hours! (I wish I had that devotion and hunger now!) I was totally enthralled by the REAL Jesus whom I met there! Boy, was He different from the Jesus I had heard about, and thought I knew!
Up to this time, I was a scoffing skeptic and I had steered clear of all things religious. I usually laughed at any of the religious stuff that I happened across on my channel surfing travels. But, for some reason the interview, report format of the 700 Club was getting through to me. They interviewed all kinds of people who seemed genuinely touched and changed by this God that they KNEW PERSONALLY. This intrigued me and things began to get pretty serious. I mean we even took the plunge and went to a church service for the first time! No bribes, handcuffs, or last rights were involved!
Just to show you how inexperienced we really were with this church thing. I did the unspeakable. I signed the guest book! Why? I don’t know! Maybe I thought we could win something! Anyway, a new week started and things were pretty tough. Our money was so scarce that we couldn’t even afford food . I had to get a job, but where? While watching the 700 Club, Pat Robertson was leading in a prayer, and I decided that now was the time to act. I prayed, “God, if You’re real, and You can hear me, help Sheila and I, Lord. I need a job now!”
I know what you’re thinking. God doesn’t like ultimatums, and who was I to put God to the test? What’s with this, “If You’re real, then do something” speech? Well, the only thing I can say in my defence is that I was ignorant, desperate, and in need-- so I cried out. You know, sometimes I think we would be better off if we were ignorant of the “whys,” the “maybes” and the “you can’t do or pray for thats”. I think that we, as Christians, could do with a little more desperation! Don’t worry, I’m getting down from my soap box now.
A few minutes later I got a call from the minister of the congregation we had attended the week before. After introducing himself to me, he asked me if I knew anyone who could cook. I couldn’t believe it. This guy, who had seen me once, and had heard me utter no more than three or four words, asked me if I knew anyone who could cook. I had been cooking for seven years, for crying out loud! That was my profession at that point in time! How did he know that? The Lord immediately answered the ignorant, desperate prayer of a seeker! Wow, what a great God we have! To make a long story short, I started catering the Sunday afternoon brunches for this congregation and that job put food on our table.
For Christmas that year, we had no money for presents. I can’t remember if Sheila got me a present, but I remember saving a dollar here, a dollar there to finally get the twenty dollars needed to buy Sheila a harmonica (hey, she wanted one, ok?) That was it. That was our Christmas, we didn’t even have a tree. But, oh, what a Christmas it was! We had no money, but we had each other and we had God. I finally had found a relationship to go along with the babe in the manger!
If our enjoyment of Christmas is dependent only on gifts, family, children, or friends, then we will, at some point, be disappointed and even hate Christmas. Why? Because we don’t always get what we want; because children grow up and move away; because loved ones die. Then, all we’re left with is a morgue of memories that crushes our hearts. But, if Christ is the center of Christmas; if Christ is the center of every day of our life, then Christmases, even without the standard trimmings, even in the midst of loss and sadness, can be a deeply moving time.