I thank those who have taken the time to read this year’s Christmas story. You can find the rest of the story at this link.

     Tomorrow would be our last travel day. As we drove through Georgia, I turned to check on everyone in the backseat. I had to admit that the trip had gone far better than I had ever imagined. Aunt Hattie had been an incredible blessing, helping to entertain the boys, while also meeting their endless requests for drinks and snacks. In between caring for the boys, she had shared many of her life stories.
     Her father had been an angry alcoholic who couldn’t keep a job, leaving her mama to cope alone with providing for both the physical and emotional needs of her five children. She took in laundry and all the kids pitched in to help as they got older. Aunt Hattie shared how she had learned from a very young age how to scrub out stains and of all the tricks to keeping laundry bright and clean. If not for the charity of their church family they wouldn’t have survived.
     “My mama was the sweetest, most loving and humble person you could ever meet. I guess she would be your great-grandmother, Allie. I am sorry you never got to meet her. She read to us from the Bible every night and told us to live by that Book. But she also told me and my brothers and sister that that Book said we can never be good enough to be right with God. That this is why Jesus came as a baby to earth. To make a way for us to be right with God. Oh, I am so thankful she told me about Jesus and that He died on the cross for me! I am also so very thankful that she showed me that truly believing in Jesus yields a life that lives for Jesus. My mama was such a wonderful example of a fine Christian lady. How I thank God for giving me my precious mama,” tears had welled up in Aunt Hattie’s eyes as she had remembered.
     She also shared memories from her life as an adult. I had had no idea that she had lost three babies, twin sons and a daughter, almost full-term before never getting pregnant again. She shared openly of the deep pain that she and Uncle Harold had endured when they realized that they would never have a family and of God’s abundant and tender mercies during that trial. She also told us of Uncle Harold’s first business failure and of how, that Christmas so long ago, they had no idea where they would get money for any food, much less gifts. And, here, she shared of God’s faithfulness to her and Harold as they faced this difficult time. She spoke so fondly of her late husband and I could see she still missed him so very much.
     All along the way of our trip she had handed out hundreds of dollars’ worth of Amazon and restaurant gift cards. Aunt Hattie was one of those people who had a way of drawing others out and within a few minutes she would hear of a trial or need that they had. For various reasons, she had given cards to our kind Cracker Barrel waitress; to the teen-aged girl taking our order at Panera; to the frustrated older man in the McDonald’s drive-through window; to the friendly clerk and quiet maid at our hotel; and even to a discouraged single mom at a rest stop. And she’d always say the same thing as she climbed in the car: It just seemed to me that they could use a bit of “day brightening” and then she’d give a big smile. Somewhere in Virginia, I had asked how she decided what cards to get and who to give them to.
     “Well, dear, I just try to buy cards that just about anybody can use. Now, that being said, of course I do not give a Texas Roadhouse card to someone living out in the boondocks,” she chuckled. Mike and I smiled at her use of the old-fashioned word.
     She went on, “And I just try to be perceptive where there is a need for someone to know they are appreciated and loved. I want to make people feel like someone cares as they go through life. When I was about ten…”
     She went on to tell of Miss Sadie, her childhood Sunday School teacher, who had made her feel so special and loved at a very difficult time.
     “Miss Sadie has inspired me for my whole life. Isn’t it simply amazing how we can plant seeds of love and kindness in the hearts of young children that will be life-changing? Of course, we can also plant seeds of mistrust and bitterness so we need to be extra careful,” with these words she put a hand on each of the boys’ heads and tousled their hair, giving them loving smiles.
     “Anyway, your Uncle Harold left me gobs of money because as you may know, his second business venture was extremely successful, thanks be to the Lord, and so I just want to bless others with what the Lord has given me. After all, it’s His money, not mine. I just want to be a good steward.”
     I have to admit that I had no idea that Aunt Hattie had “gobs of money”. Uncle Harold had died when I was three and I really had never asked Aunt Hattie anything about him. I pondered on the “gobs of money” for at least the next ten miles. Aunt Hattie lived very simply. While her house was very nice, it was simple and small. Aunt Hattie didn’t spend a lot of money on herself and, in fact, often bragged about her latest find at the thrift store, the long purple coat she was wearing being one of them.
     Later on, in the hotel that night, I thought of Aunt Hattie and all I had thought I had known about her and then compared it to all I had learned about her on this road trip. I felt ashamed. In my self-centered way, I had tried to be kind to her but I realized now that I had been a bit patronizing and distant with her at our family gatherings. To my chagrin, I had written this dear aunt off as just another “old lady”, never even considering all the people and events that had made her who she was.
     “I just can’t believe all we’ve been learning about your aunt,” Mike said as he pulled back the covers of the hotel bed.
     “I was just thinking that same thing,” I admitted.
     Mike looked serious, “have you ever considered how much we don’t know about the elderly people in our lives? We get so caught up in our own lives. I feel like I’ve been missing out on so much.”
     “I feel the exact same way,” I said.
     As I lay there in bed a few minutes later, I asked the Lord to help me to be kinder and more caring to anyone He brought my way. I wanted to be like Aunt Hattie.

     The next day, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then headed out. We had only about six more hours of driving and then we would arrive at my parents’ house. My heart was filled with elated joy as I anticipated the reunion with them and with my siblings and their families.
     Aunt Hattie was unusually quiet on this day. I didn’t think too terribly much about it, as I am sure a trip like this one would make any 80-something year old especially tired. I was much younger and I felt exhausted.
     But about three hours into our trip, I heard the boys soberly say “mom” in unison. I was looking for a new audio story for them to listen to on my phone and so I ignored them at first. But their insistence that I pay attention quickly turned into shouts, “Something is wrong with Aunt Hattie!”
     I turned around to see a very pale Aunt Hattie struggling to breathe. My heart started beating faster than perhaps it ever had. Aunt Hattie needed help right now but we were on a highway somewhere in the middle of unfamiliar Georgia. What in the world were we going to do?

 Today I present Part 3 of this year’s Christmas Story. You can find the first two parts here at this link, along with all of the other Growing4Life Christmas stories.

     As Mike drove off the exit, I was groaning inside. A delay was one thing. The financial implications of this was another. We just could not afford a hefty mechanic’s bill during this holiday season. I could almost hear my grandmother murmuring her favorite saying in my ear…don’t count your chickens before they hatch. I tried to will myself not to panic.
     “Where are we going?” Observant Aiden had noticed we had left the highway.
     “Need to check out something with the car, Bud,” said Mike casually, but I could tell the way his hands gripped the steering wheel that he was worried.
     “Why don’t we play a little game, boys?” asked Aunt Hattie, as she creatively thought of some fun little game to play with them to keep them preoccupied as we rolled into a gas station right off the exit.
     Mike opened the hood of the car and looked inside. This car had been a gem so far but it did have an awful lot of miles on it.
     After a short while, Mike pushed the hood down and came to stand by my window, which I rolled down.
     “I don’t think it’s anything major, but I do need to find a mechanic. I’m going to go in and see if they can tell me where to find one,” he pointed to the mini-mart attached to the garage.
     “Okay,” I said.
     I suddenly realized that I hadn’t heard anything from the boys for a while. I turned to check on them. Bless Aunt Hattie’s heart, she had them engrossed in their drawing boards, creatively concocting some game that was keeping them both busy and quiet.
     I closed my eyes and started praying, “Lord, if you could keep this a simple fix that isn’t too expensive, we’d sure appreciate it…”
     Soon Mike was climbing back in the vehicle, “the guy in there said there’s a garage about three miles in that direction,” he pointed to the left and then started the car and turned that way.
     A few miles later, we arrived at an old-fashioned garage that looked like something right out of a movie set from the 1960s. An older man, bearded and dressed in stained blue overalls, walked out of the garage, wiping his hands on an old rag, asking how he could help us.
     Mike opened the hood and he and the mechanic talked for a bit. Meanwhile, I heard Aunt Hattie fussing a bit in the back. She was trying to reach a bag and just couldn’t get to it.
     “Mom, I have to go to the bathroom,” Miles whined.
     I looked at the garage, doubtful that it had a public restroom. But I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask. Miles and I and climbed out of the car, “Aiden, do you have to go?”
     “Yeah, I’ll try,” he said, bounding out of the car with the typical energy of a boy his age.
     Aunt Hattie joined the group, declaring she may as well “try”, too.
     The mechanic kindly offered to let us use the restroom in his shop and soon we all felt much better and started to climb back in the car.
     “Oh, my dear, can I get something out of the back?” Aunt Hattie said.
     “Sure,” I moved to the back and opened the hatch for her. A bag started to tumble out of the stuffed compartment as the door swung up. I moved quickly and was proud of myself for catching it before it fell to the ground.
     Aunt Hattie sifted through the luggage, looking through two or three of her bags, finally pulling a small red box out of one of them and telling me I could shut the hatch.
     I eyed the box curiously. But I didn’t want to be nosy so I didn’t ask. We all got back in the car to wait.
     Within an hour, the mechanic was closing the hood and wiping his hands on his rag again. He took Mike’s credit card for payment and went inside. Hattie jumped out of the vehicle, red box in hand, and followed him inside.
     What in the world was she up to now?
     Soon she came out without the red box, waving the receipt and credit card. She handed the card to Mike, who put it in his wallet but she held on to the receipt, “I went ahead and paid the bill. I am just so grateful that you brought me with you. This is just a little way for me to say thanks.”
     “Oh, Aunt Hattie, no, you don’t need to do that…”
     “Oh, I know I don’t need to. I want to!” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
     “What was in that red box?” a curious Aiden wondered. I was so glad he asked because I wanted to know, too!
     “Oh, it was just a $10 Amazon gift card. I carry several of them with me most always because you just never know when you are going to need to say a hearty thanks to someone who did something special for you. Or maybe just give someone a tiny little pick-me-up. It’s amazing how such a small thing like that will lift someone’s spirits. It’s just a little way to let someone know they are appreciated and care for,” she smiled and then asked the boys if they’d like to continue their game. They enthusiastically said yes and they were soon back to drawing.
     As we pulled back on to the highway, I had to reflect on Aunt Hattie’s words. I knew Aunt Hattie was a thoughtful person. But I didn’t realize how intentional she was in how she cared for others or that her care extended to strangers.
     And I found myself wondering: Should I be more intentional? I was feeling uncomfortable as I recognized how self-focused and self-centered I was as I lived my life. Oh, I loved my family well and took good care of them, and that care extended to my parents and other family. But I rarely thought about the needs of others outside my immediate circle.
     But Aunt Hattie was challenging my whole perspective. As I heard her laugh in the backseat, I just had to smile. Yes, this was going to be an interesting trip in more ways than one.

Today is the second installment of this year’s Christmas story. If you’d like to read Part 1, you can find it here.

     The day had finally arrived! Christmas was only a few days away and it was time to begin our trip to my parents in Florida.
     The boys woke up full of energy and chattered away about the trip. They were especially excited about going to the beach, something they had never done before. Mom had assured me she’d have plenty of beach towels and she had also bought some sand toys. I was thankful not to have to worry about packing these things.
     Mike was out in the driveway loading things into our Honda Pilot, trying to leave some space for Aunt Hattie’s things. He had attached the roof bag and fit as many pieces of our luggage into it as possible. As we both stood back and looked at the room available for Aunt Hattie, we were pleased. She should have plenty of room to add her one suitcase and a few gifts.
     Around 10am we set off for Aunt Hattie’s house. When we arrived, she was standing outside, her petite frame engulfed by her long purple coat. Fluffy white ear muffs and a scarf covered with cheerful, sparkly snowmen completed her attire. In her arms was Princess, whose tail started wagging as soon as she saw the car pull in.
     Aunt Hattie put Princess down, who immediately jumped in the car to greet the boys. They giggled as she excitedly jumped back and forth between them giving them kisses, her bright red and green Christmas collar jingling with every move. Meanwhile, Aunt Hattie gave both Mike and me a grandmotherly hug.
     “Oh, isn’t it so exciting? Can you believe it is the day we are to leave? I’ve been so looking forward to this!” She had the biggest smile on her face.
     Both Mike and I had yet to notice the huge pile of stuff on the porch that was somehow supposed to fit in the car. I happened to glance over at Mike just as his eyes moved to the porch. His eyes grew large and he took a deep breath—I knew just what he was thinking—but he didn’t say a word as he went over to pick up a few of the bags.
     “Oh, I hope this isn’t too much…”
     “Well, let’s see what we can do, Aunt Hattie,” Mike said cheerfully.
     When it was all said and done, only a couple of bags with non-essentials ended up not making the trip with us. The car was packed to the gills and Mike would have no view out his back window but it wasn’t the first time for him to drive like this and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last.
     Tucking the two unnecessary bags inside the house, she locked the door and climbed in the car to sit beside Aiden, who was in the middle seat. Miles was holding Princess, who had already crawled into a little ball into his lap and lay there contentedly.
     Meanwhile, Aiden was already whining, “Mom….I want the puppy.”
     Mike stepped in immediately, “you both will need to take turns with the puppy. We will let Miles have her for awhile,” and then he smiled at everyone and said, “are we all ready to go?”
     There were shouts of enthusiastic “yes!”‘s followed by a dismayed squeal.
     We all turned to Aunt Hattie to see what was wrong.
     “Oh,” she groaned, “I forgot Princess’s things. It’s in a bag in the laundry room. It has all of her food, her leash, her little fluffy reindeer, her squeaky taco, her smartbones…” Aunt Hattie listed every single thing in that bag.
     I considered the space in the car and hoped the bag was not very big.
     “Oh, it’s not a problem,” I assured her, “we will wait here while you run in to get it. It should fit on the floor below Miles,” I said, hoping I was right. The floor was already filled with toys and snacks for traveling. Thankfully, the bag wasn’t overly big and fit nicely in the small area left on the floor.
     “Oh, my,” Aunt Hattie said breathlessly as she got settled again, “do you know I forgot to shut the kitchen window? I opened it last night because it was so hot in the house for some reason I never did figure out and I so I opened it just a little teensy crack. But you know I never thought to shut it last night or this morning? Oh, my goodness, God must have had me leave that bag in my house for just that reason. I noticed it as soon as I went in and I thought to myself, Hattie, God is taking care of you because that window would have been open the whole two weeks we were gone if I hadn’t forgotten that bag. Doesn’t that just go to show you how God uses even annoying, irritating everyday things to work out His plan for us?” She stopped with a giant sigh and leaned back into her seat, “well, shall we go?”
     Mike and I glanced at each other and smiled. One thing we could be sure of is that this trip wouldn’t be boring.
     He started the car and backed out of the driveway and we were soon on our way. The traffic on the highway was surprisingly light. This was unexpected so we were grateful.
     Aunt Hattie talked non-stop for the first hour but then she seemed to wear herself out and decided to take a little nap. The boys were surprisingly content with the toys and books I had brought and I was just thinking how this trip was going to be so much better than I had thought when, suddenly, an odd noise came from the car.
     “What was that?” I asked Mike worriedly.
     “I have no idea,” his voice was concerned, “but something doesn’t feel right.”
     He pointed to the green exit sign that was coming up, “I’m going to take the exit to check it out.”
     I groaned inside. Maybe this trip wasn’t going to be so easy, after all.

A Personal Note: As many of you already know, we lost my Aunt Sarah this past March in an unexpected car accident. I’d like to dedicate this particular story in her memory. While she was not really like Aunt Hattie–she didn’t have a dog and she didn’t talk too much–she did have some things in common with Aunt Hattie. First, she did love dogs and dogs loved her. Many were the times my little dogs would climb in her lap and rest comfortably there. And she did talk a lot if you got her going on the right subject. She got the biggest kick out of certain things and she would tell us all about them when she had the opportunity to do so. But the thing she had most in common with Aunt Hattie is the saddest thing. She, too, lost her husband and only, unmarried child and found herself without a family as a middle-aged woman. And so this part of the story is coming out of my personal experience. Aunt Sarah, like Aunt Hattie, found herself, quite suddenly, without an immediate family. And, while this story is from the point of view of Allie, I’d like to encourage you to reflect on Aunt Hattie’s point of view for a bit. As we begin the Christmas season, may we not get so caught up in our own personal festivities that we forget those who find themselves alone, for whatever reason. Can you brighten someone’s Christmas this year?

The idea of gratitude is a pretty easy concept when things are going great. It’s easy to praise God when we and those we love are healthy, we have plenty of money to pay the bills, we feel secure and loved, and we have all our needs met and even many of our wants.

But when life takes a detour from our plans; when it doesn’t go as we had hoped or desired…this is when gratitude can be hard to practice.

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I’ve been reflecting a bit on these verses–

 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:20)

These verses also come to mind–

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

It is clear that gratitude is an integral part of the true believer’s life. However, knowing what to do and knowing how to do it are two very different things, aren’t they?

As I’ve been considering trials (both big and small), I’ve been pondering how we can be thankful in them and for them. (And please keep in mind that I am just looking to scripture for this answer. I do not have this perfected and I am trying to remind myself of these things as much as I am reminding you!)

So what can we thank God for in any trial?

We can thank Him for spiritual growth. Any trial we encounter can be used by God to conform us into the image of Christ. In fact, this is the whole gist of Romans 8:28-29–

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The good that God is working in our lives is to make us look more like His Son. As one who is easily distracted back to temporal things, my expectation for God’s good is way too...small. I want His good to be fixing my problem, making me more comfortable, and providing miraculously for my needs and perhaps even giving me a few of my wants. BUT this is not what is promised. We are promised that He will work all things together for our spiritual benefit.

This will mean so much more to us if we get our eyes off this world and set them on things above (Colossians 3:1-4). Keeping our eyes on this world, filling our minds with things of this world, living for this world will only bring discontentment and frustration.

What else can we thank God for in any trial?

We can thank Him for His abundant grace and His abounding small and large mercies. Have you experienced these things, as I have? Sometimes they are evident as you walk through the deep, dark valley. Other times, you only see them once you get to the other side. But God, in His Providence, often provides just the right bit of encouragement or the blessing you need at just the right time. His timing is impeccable. He provides for His own in ways that are unfathomable. While we must expect persecution and trials in this life (John 15:19-20; I Peter 4:12), we also can be confident that God will walk with us and provide all we need on our difficult journey (Psalm 9:9-10; John 14:27; Hebrews 13:5).

And is there anything else?

We can thank God for His Word. Have you ever been in turmoil of soul and opened the Bible and there was exactly what you needed? The words wash over you like a balm and calm you. God’s Word is not just any old book. It’s God’s precious and holy Word, given to us for all of life and godliness (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3) Including for those times that are just really rough. Memorizing verses exponentially helps us in times of darkness, because we don’t need to read the Word but it’s already there in our hearts. So those nights when we toss and turn, with anxiety-ridden minds, we can take our thoughts captive by bringing some of the verses we memorized to the forefront and meditating on them.

While there are probably other things to thank God for in trials, I’d like to focus on just one more.

We can thank God for His family. When we are going through a trial, the family of God surrounds us with so much care and love. As we live our normal lives, we don’t think to express our concern and love for one another, but as soon as someone faces a trial, we are there, aren’t we? Ready to do what we can to ease the burden. It’s the wonderful blessing of Christian love (I Corinthians 12:26; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19 Romans 12:10).

I would like to recognize here that some trials are acutely private and so, in these times, we do not get the blessing of this Christian love. Some of you are going through things you would never share with anyone. Struggles and circumstances that are deeply personal and not evident to others. These may be the most difficult trials of all.

As we consider this idea of thanking God in all things and for all things, perhaps it’s important to remember that it’s an intentional choice that needs to be made each and every day. For most of us (me!), it’s our natural bent to complain or to whine. But God wants us to be thankful. Not just at Thanksgiving but always in all things and for all things. May we reflect on this as we begin the holiday season.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!