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God Will Keep Christ in Christmas! 12/24/2005 Jesus’ offer of redemption is a year-round gift! This is an EVERGREEN article from CWA, re-posted for your reflection and enjoyment.
Editor’s note: The need to acknowledge that “Jesus is the reason for the season” seemed greater than ever during the recent Christmas season. Public schools attempted to ban religious Christmas music and displays, and recently a city refused to allow a religious Christmas float to appear in a parade, battles to keep nativity displays off public property erupted around the United States.
However, a staff member of Concerned Women for America found the story of Christmas presented in a most unexpected way.
It was December 22, and my husband and I were heading home to my mother’s house in Ohio for Christmas. We braved Washington, D.C., rush-hour traffic and left directly after work, planning to arrive around 1 a.m. However, a fierce storm from the west was heading there, as well. With a little less than three hours to go, we decided to stay overnight in a hotel, hoping that road conditions would have cleared up by the next day.
We set out merrily on our way the next morning. We were singing children’s songs together at the top of our lungs when we hit a huge sheet of ice and our Jeep Cherokee sailed into the ditch, landing practically on its side. No problem. We called our travel insurance carrier with whom we waited on hold for a half hour until a tow truck managed to drive right by. Climbing out of the car, we waved and shouted to get the driver’s attention. He hitched his truck up to our jeep and, after several tries (his tow truck kept sliding across the ice), our jeep was free!
After this 40-minute delay, we were on our way again. We thanked God for sending that man along at just the right time, and we continued to sing (Christmas songs this time). The roads only got worse as we got closer to my mother’s but we arrived safely, and the jeep suffered not a scratch.
The days leading up to Christ’s birthday were lovely and white. We all went out and enjoyed the snow, even shoveling the driveway before Christmas. All was wonderful.
However, on Christmas Eve the roads were still dangerous. It had been so cold that the salt wasn’t melting the ice, and two feet of snow coated with a layer of ice covered the parking lots. Christmas Eve services all over the area were cancelled.
This was devastating. My mother’s church has a candlelight service that recounts the birth of Jesus and is filled with Christmas carols. My family enjoys this special time every year. Instead, we read the Christmas story aloud and shared with each other how we have grown in our relationship with God this year. That was special too.
But what about those people who were alone on Christmas? Or their families were not Christian?
Here is the little miracle given to them:
In Mansfield, Ohio, there is a secular radio station that plays rock music. Earlier in the day I had heard a version of Silent Night that included a provocative “oh baby” before the “All is calm” verse, and they regularly play songs by controversial performers such as Eminem. This radio station had received so many calls about people missing their Christmas Eve services that the DJ read the Christmas story twice on the night of Christmas Eve.
I was a little skeptical. When the announcer said “Christmas Story,” what was he referring to? The Night Before Christmas?
No. At 8:50 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. (I heard it announced and my little brother listened to it) the DJ on this secular radio station read THE Christmas Story from Luke 2.
Surely, God has a grander plan than we can ever know. More non-Christians probably heard the true meaning of Christmas this year than if all of the churches in the area had had services. I will put my jeep in the ditch anytime if the Gospel will be spread!
Maude von Ehrenkrook is a former staff member of Concerned Women for America.
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Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 |
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