December Thoughts

I just realized that if I don’t write something about Christmas this week, my next post will be after Christmas. In realizing that I also realized that I failed to take note of a very special day to me, December 13^th. So I will start with December 13 remembrances.

In 1978 – that was 35 years ago – on December 13^th I wrote in my journal: “I believe!” I wrote it in big letters with several exclamation points after it. It was my first proclamation of a belief in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t proclaimed publicly for several days after that, but December 13^th is the official first day of the rest of my life. It’s the day I put my faith and trust in my Higher Power for the first time.

Since that day I have experienced God in many ways in my life, but when I’m struggling with my faith, I need to remember to go back to what life was like before that December 13^th in 1978. I see that I was only able to make a sober decision to trust in Christ because of God’s power in my life. Up until that time, I drank alcohol on a regular basis. I was surviving college and managing to do okay in my classes but my social life was wrapped up in parties and drinking (even when there wasn’t a party to go to). I don’t have any explanation as to how I stayed sober long enough to make a decision to trust in God. The only explanation is that God was at work in me. He was providing a small miracle to help me see Him more clearly. I stayed sober long enough to make a decision to follow Him and He helped me stay sober after that for quite some time. I only returned to drinking when I lost sight of the One who got me sober in the first place. When I doubt God’s existence, I return in my memory to those days in 1978 when all seemed hopeless and I felt so alone. There was a change in my life because of Christ. There’s no other explanation and I need no other proof that God exists.

There’s another December 13^th that is meaningful to me. On December 13, 1989, my son was born. He was another miracle of God that I can hold onto when I doubt God’s existence. He was born healthy, more or less, in spite of my insulin-dependent diabetes. He has made huge difference in my life and I cherish the memories of his infancy and childhood. I also am excited to see what the future holds for him. His name means “gift of God,” and he has proven to be that for me.

December, in general, is a special time of the year for me. Besides the two births – mine into Christ and my son’s into this world – there was a baby born over 2,000 years ago. That brings me great joy. I’ve been doubting a lot lately, but the Christmas season reminds me that there’s hope. It seems like such a fantastic story . . . a virgin giving birth, a boy growing into a man who would die for my sins, etc. But, those things took miracles to happen. There’s hope in miracles. Maybe there will be miracles for me in my future. Christmas brings the hope of miracles with it.

So I choose to look at the joy and miracles of the Christmas season. I choose to believe in the birth of Christ and in all the stories found in Scripture. There are miracles happening all around us everyday. I just need to choose to see them and believe in the Giver of miracles. That’s where I get joy from in the month of December.