9 Days Before Christmas

Good morning,

Only nine days before Christmas and I am sure everyone is doing last-minute shopping and preparing for the big weekend. Yesterday, I was out shopping and I walked into a store and the saleslady and I were the only ones in the store. We said hello pleasantries and then she said, “I just totaled my car on the way to work this morning.” I was kind of shocked for a moment and then I couldn’t believe she had been through that and she was at work. I asked if she was ok and she told me nothing hurt but she thought she might be in shock.

She told me she did not have insurance to pay for a new car, had been divorced recently, and wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She then mentioned her grandma had just died and she had a laundry basket of things she had been given from her grandma’s house, like the family Bible. The tow truck guy was in a hurry and he was mad she was taking time to collect her things from the car. Right after that, her hair had been clipped up and the clip popped and her hair came falling out of the bun.

At first, I was not sure what to say to her with all the trauma she was having and talking about!! Then a calmness came over me and I stopped looking at the clothes and turned to her and said, “What is your name?” She told me and I said her name, closed my eyes, and told her, “I am going to speak words of encouragement over you and ask God to take all of this to be used for your benefit and that who better than you to get a Christmas miracle this year.” Amen. She just looked at me with tears in her eyes and she said the sweetest “Thank you. I so needed that.”

She asked me if I had a big family. I said, “I have two kids but lots of family.” I asked if she had kids she said, “Yes, seven boys!” I told her, “If you can be the mom of seven boys, you can handle this and everything is going to work out better than you can imagine.” She checked me out and again said, “Thank you.” I said, “You got this,” smiled, and headed out of the shop.

I think the meaning for me with that experience is Christmas! We get to shop and go to parties and have family around us but the little gifts we give with our words and heart are important and give us hope and blessings. Jesus connected with people who were hurting and lost. He made them realize that circumstances are going to happen but you can have joy in the trouble. You can have a stranger help you. You can help a stranger.

Slow down and enjoy this Christmas, even if it is for a few minutes. Make a snow angel. Read a book to a little kid. Sing a Christmas song loud and off-key in your car!!

Love you, Teri

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