Columns

Last weekend, my daughters and I were invited to a fancy tea party at a fancy house in a fancy neighborhood. I kinda always wanted to be fancy, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. Truthfully, it doesn’t come at all.

Example: I recently had an extremely important business meeting. So, I forced myself out of my blue jeans and into my fancy business clothes, complete with silk stockings and black pumps.

Always believe in miracles. That is what all of us need to remember as we enter into another Christmas season. There is plenty of cynicism and skepticism to go around, but I say focus on the miracle that God became human in Jesus Christ and that miracle can give us hope no matter what situation we find ourselves in. I found an old story from Guidepost Magazine’s book Christmas Miracles, c. 2008. The story is edited, for this article, but the full version can be found on the internet. It always brings a tear of joy to my eyes.

Every year we see marvelous and wonderful progress in the field of medical science. At one time diphtheria was one of the dreaded diseases of humankind. But today, nobody is afraid of diphtheria; it has practically been eliminated. So has smallpox, and thank God, so has polio. Pneumonia used to be a dreaded disease, but today, the physicians have medicines that can deal with pneumonia. Great progress is being made daily in the field of cancer. Medical science marches on to new heights.

As I was driving to work last week on one of those particularly cold mornings, my car beeped at me and alerted me to the fact I only had enough gas to get 10 more miles down the road.

I pulled into the next closest gas station, fought the frigid gusts of wind to get the pump started, then hightailed it back into the car to snuggle into my heated seat. Then I texted a co-worker on my cell phone that I would be just a few minutes late getting to the office.

Later it occurred to me the scene would have been entirely different just 20 years ago.