“I want you to trust Me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give Me glory.” (Psalm 50: 15 TLB)

It was the first Christmas after Dad's stroke and Carole, John, Mom and I were all stumped. We'd been trying to brain-storm for weeks. How could we make this holiday season good for him? He'd always been the one to get the decorations down and get the tree up and whistle or sing his way through the season. What could he still do from his wheelchair that would make him feel like he was part of the fun? Was fun still even an option – or was that gone along with the use of his right arm and leg?

The snow was falling gently the day Mom and I talked softly in a back bedroom. We'd given up on trying to figure out what to do and had simply decided to pray about it and let God give us all peace about accepting things the way they were.

That's when we heard Dad's velvet voice humming from the living room.

“Silent Night”, “White Christmas ”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Jingle Bells” … snatches of secular tunes and hymns blended together in a delightfully unorganized medley of his own making. Mom & I both got misty, just hearing those sounds after weeks of mostly silence from Dad.

There he was, in front of the marble-top dresser with the big mirror, using his left hand to arrange pieces of the manger scene we'd put there temporarily (we thought). Usually, they'd been placed on a high shelf but at that moment they seemed to be exactly where they belonged. As he handled the sheep and shepherd and the Holy Family, Dad's face was full of peace and we knew the Lord had – once again – shown up just where He was needed.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for coming to us over and over again in ways we don't expect but truly need. Amen.

Shirley Leonard