How God Works - A Christmas Story

Fourteen years ago November, God answered my wife's prayer in an unusual manner.

I had been laid off from my job after 19 years. We had been hit by Hurricane Wilma. Our power was still out after two weeks.

My wife and I had decided to sell the house and move to New Mexico. We had lived our whole lives in South Florida and moving over 2000 miles away from friends and family was going to be difficult. As was her custom, when faced with a big decision, my wife turned to prayer. She asked God for clarity.

God answered November 8th. After 16 days with no power, when the out of state repair guys restored power to our house it caught on fire. It was a total loss. This sealed the deal. We took the insurance money, sold the lot, and moved to New Mexico.

I had been in the imprinted sportswear business since 1987. Not long after we moved I opened my own embroidery and printing company. We made it part of our mission to serve God through service to our community. This meant that, among other things, we discounted and/or donated our products and services to churches and charitable organizations.

The organizations we helped were many and varied. Watermelon Mountain Ranch is an animal rescue (we got our two dogs from them). CareNet is a crisis pregnancy center that gives women an alternative to abortion. NAMI helps people with mental health issues. Haven House gives shelter and assistance to battered and abused women.

When we relocated to New Mexico, some of our family followed. My sister actually arrived a couple of months before we could. She has not had an easy life. One of the reasons she moved out here so quickly was to escape an abusive relationship. There have been a string of guys who have physically and mentally abused my sister. As family we attempted to intervene, but an abused woman tends to stay with the abuser until she has had enough. Needless to say, my sister has had first hand experience with abusers.

All of that to bring us to the present. I received a call from my sister this morning. She was clearly upset. Her neighbor had appeared on her doorstep last night, beaten and bloody, with small children in tow, looking for a place to hide from the abusive husband.

This was not a friendly neighbor. In fact, since she had moved in, she had made my sister's life difficult. She would (frivolously) call the police complaining about noise and barking dogs. She filed complaints against my sister with the HOA. She called animal control and my sister got a citation for not having her dog's vaccination records available. She set up cameras facing my sister's apartment. All in all, she was a neighbor from hell.

Now this disagreeable person appears on my sister's doorstep, late at night, blood dripping from her face, looking for safe place for her and her children. My sister let them in, set them up with sofas and blankets, fed them, and they all went to sleep.

I became aware of this when my sister called me this morning in a panic. What should she do? Should she call the police? Should she let them stay? The whole situation was causing her to flash back to the violent episodes in her life. She was very upset.

Because my sister was battered, she felt empathy for a stranger that had been anything but friendly towards her.

Because my house burned down, we moved to New Mexico, started a business that works with charities, and had worked closely with Haven House, which shelters battered women.

I was able to direct my sister to call Roberta (the director) at Haven House. This abused woman is going to have a safe place for her and her children, hidden from her violent husband. She is going to get free legal council and help starting a life away from fear and violence.

All the pieces fell into place through God's grace. He allowed my sister and myself to go through terrible things so we would be uniquely equipped to help this woman in her time of need.

Keep this in mind when you are going through hardship. God uses the fire of adversity to forge us into tools to carry out His will here on Earth.

I hope this story brings you some comfort and joy this Christmas season. May the blessings of our Lord and Savior be on you all!

This was not a friendly neighbor. In fact, since she had moved in, she had made my sister’s life difficult. She would (frivolously) call the police complaining about noise and barking dogs. She filed complaints against my sister with the HOA. She called animal control and my sister got a citation for not having her dog’s vaccination records available. She set up cameras facing my sister’s apartment. All in all, she was a neighbor from hell.

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How awful. But now we see a reason why this poor unhappy person made others so unhappy.

I hope this neighbor will - like your sister - overcome the abuse and learn to live a happy fulfilled life.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Amen. It’s a wonderful story.

I myself am not such a good person. Pray as I might, in the back of my mind still lurks a sarcastic and skeptical person. The sort of person who wonders how long it will be before the other women at the shelter are demanding that an officious virago be thrown out.

In all seriousness, I hope the children find a a safe and loving place. Perhaps you and your sister were there primarily to rescue the children at this Christmas season.

Here is a very well done study about the birth of Jesus.

Happy Birthday, John

Zechariah and Elizabeth, John’s parents, had been unable to have children. Then the Angel Gabriel visited Zechariah during one of his tours of duty in the Temple (Luke 1:8-11). Zechariah was the priest chosen by lot to offer prayers at the Golden Altar just outside the Holy of Holies. This was already a once in a lifetime honor but Gabriel’s appearance made it even more unique. Only twice before had an event like this taken place, and all involved barren women and Messianic promise. Hannah was given a son Samuel who later anointed David King of Israel. The mother of Samson was told her son would begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines. And now Zechariah was being told that his son would be the one to proclaim the coming Messiah.

We have to assume that wanting a son more than anything (it was a woman’s crowning achievement in that era, whereas being barren was considered a punishment from God) Zechariah and Elizabeth went about the process of conception immediately upon his return home. So when was that? Choosing Teams

King David had divided the priests into 24 courses (divisions) to serve rotating one-week periods in the temple. All 24 divisions served during the Feasts and so each one also served twice a year on rotation. The religious year began about mid-March on our calendar and right away there were nearly three weeks of preparation and Feasts; Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Then the divisions began their rotation.

Comparing Luke 1:5 to 1 Chronicles 24:10 shows that Zechariah was of the division of Abijah, number eight in the weekly rotation. Counting the time all were on duty and the eight weeks in rotation when Zechariah’s turn came puts the visit by Gabriel about 3 months into the religious year. A normal 9 month gestation period places the birth of John the Baptist at the beginning of the following religious year (mid-March, remember) and indeed there are many who believe he was born on Passover.

Let’s convert this to our calendar to avoid further confusion and discover a fascinating possibility about December 25th. In all probability John the Baptist was conceived in mid June and born the following March. According to Luke 1:36 Mary conceived in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. That means that our Lord was conceived in late December and born in September. Are we inadvertently celebrating His conception at Christmas instead of His birth?

The whole study is here Jack Kelley.

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