This Christmas we have seen Him at work. It all started (in my mind) when our little girl gave up the opportunity of getting her first American Girl doll in preference for sending the money to World Vision. She wanted to help save the life of a family overseas. When she got the thank-you card from them in the mail we found out that her hundred dollars actually helps two families.
I imagine two fathers waking up. One with a weight in the pit of his empty stomach. He must look for work, for food, for charity. But he knows there is none today just as there was none yesterday or the day before that. It is grim but he gets up.
The second hears the hungry cries of his baby and his wife trying to console despite the emptiness in her own body. He's seen his wife waste away over the past years and is ashamed that he has not been able to provide for her the way he promised her family he would. He prays and gets up to hold them both and remind them that God has not abandoned them.
Two mothers are fighting their own thoughts. The first is angry-at the system which keeps her handicapped as a woman, at the limited resources that the government disperses to her people, at the horrific choices her neighbors and friends are having to make with their own children. She tells herself she would never abandon or sell her daughter. But the decision is not all hers to make, and their choices are running out. She cannot find God in the midst of them.
The second mother wants to believe that God is with them and will provide for them. But it is hard to feel God's presence over the agonizing hunger pangs wracking her body. It is hard to hear God's reassuring voice over the sound of the squalling, starving baby. Worse yet are the times when the baby doesn't cry at all because he is too weak-his mother unable to produce milk for him.
I imagine a worker from their church knocking on their door to give them the news that God has indeed provided. A goat and two chickens means milk, eggs, and meat for them. It means survival. It means God really does see them and wants to bless them.
When I try to imagine their reactions, I come up short. The closest I can get to it is to think about my daughter and her reaction on Christmas Eve when she unwrapped a gift from her best friend. She tore open the paper and began to open the box. When she saw what was inside, she froze-an American Girl doll, the one she'd always wanted. She teared up and shook her head incredulously. Then she threw her arms around her friend and told her she loves her. She was overcome for hours that day. Letting that level of love and sacrifice sink in is no easy thing. Days afterward, she is still shocked and amazed that her friend would so something so wonderful for her.
And I understand a little bit more about the power of love and sacrifice. I recognize that God does hear and see and act. He is always, always working on our sequels. When we listen and see and act we are a part of that creative collaboration. We partner with the Sovereign One and both initiate and receive His goodness.
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