Christmas Blessing

Christmas Eve morning I was really struggling.  Not totally sure why,  but I was.  Part of it was Steve was at work and I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.  I was "behind the game" with all my prep for the next 2 days.  The holidays are fun and wonderful in many ways, but in other ways they are a challenge.  Sometimes amidst the craziness I question my motives, why am I doing all this work, does it even matter, etc.  That morning I was trying to get ready for our party that evening.  It's nothing too elaborate, but we started the tradition that after the Christmas Eve service at church we have meal of appetizers.  My parents and Uncle Jer join us as well.  My house was a mess, I was tired from the week of Christmas prep and I really didn't have much pulled together for that night.

It was about 10:00 in the morning and I was still in my pj's and hadn't done a thing to my hair.  I hopped in the car and ran down the road to the Amish to get some eggs so I could start my cooking.  As I drove and enjoyed the few minutes of quiet in the van, I prayed that God would help me.  I knew I was struggling, I wanted to walk my day out with joy but it just wasn't there.  I didn't feel like participating in the work of the day and dealing with the kids and their attitudes and the needs of the house.  I got to the Amish and they were out.  No eggs.  I drove to another Amish across the hill from us who also sells eggs but I had never purchased from them before.  I knocked on her door and was greeted by a friendly Amish girl about my age.  We chatted briefly and I remembered that we had met a few years back.  We began discussing that Christmas was tomorrow and talked about how we both felt behind and we hadn't accomplished everything we wish we could have.

She got me my 2 dozen eggs and we chatted some more.  As we were talking about a few mutual people that we knew she suddenly remembered that it was Christmas and she wanted to give me my eggs, for free!  That was their Christmas gift to their customers.  I thanked her kindly.

As I remember back to the conversation I'm not exactly sure how we got here but she just started giving me all this food.  She said that she had some cookies in the fridge that she had wanted to deliver to the neighbors and never got around to it.  She gave me those.  She told me she had a bunch of chocolate candy that she made and wasn't going to eat it all.  She gave me a huge bag of homemade chocolates.  She asked if the kids would like snack mix.  Gave me a huge bag of it.  She gave me another bag of snacks.

As she was handing me more and more food I stood there stunned and began crying in her kitchen.  I still am not sure why she was being so generous to me.  Did she feel sorry for me as I stood there unkempt in my jams and puffy coat and messy hair?  I still don't understand her kindness to me that day but it was a huge gift from God to me.  All of her treats filled in a huge gap in my evening menu and took a weight off of the work load I needed to do that day.

I do not always understand the ways that God works in our lives.  Sometimes His answers and provisions don't seem to come in the way we would wish.  And then there are times like this.  I prayed a simple prayer that God would help me.  In no way did I expect His help to come in the way that it did.  But God provided for me in such a tangible way.  Help was given to me by a sweet Amish girl who had little idea of the struggles on my heart or the demands of my day.

Suddenly my day turned very sweet and my attitude shifted.  God is with me in so many ways and I am grateful that He continues to show me His faithfulness.