Last week the festivities began for Christmas season when a group of my friends filled one of fifty tables for our annual Christmas dessert. Myriads of settings and arrangements set the ambience for sipping tea from bone china, adding sugar with silver teaspoons and reveling in song and conversation.
The Christmas celebration spurred conversation at our table about Scriptures surrounding Christ's birth . We talked about the angels and how exciting the events in Scripture preparing for Christ's birth. All of heaven was aglow with angelic activity as celestial messengers prepared the human race for their Savior… by personally delivering messages to Mary, Zacharias and the Shepherds dtraight from God in heaven.
Suddenly one of our friend's effervesced, "An angel appeared to my sister also, and bruised her cheek." Joyce laughed pointing to her sister Gina sitting beside her.
I looked at Gina as she grinned and pointed to her right cheekbone with an index finger. She turned her head revealing a darknened black translucent hue instead of rosy pink blush.
What happened? I guffawed.
Her eyes lit up brightly as she explained . "This weekend I was rummaging through the house for Christmas decorations. I opened a closet and looked above me on the top shelf. Just as I was thinking, there's so much stuff in here I need to get rid of it all, something wrapped and hard fell from the shelf and banged me on the cheek.
She laughed. When I opened it up… it was an angel. I thought about it, trying to place the significance and realized it was the angel my neighbor had given me last year. I wracked my brain again and suddenly remembered that very same neighbor had invited me to her church Christmas play—It was a Christmas event and it was this very night. I had forgotten about it.
I was so thrilled the little angel reminded me about it, I forgot my throbbing cheek. We called my daughter's little friend and scurried to get ready. I brought my daughter and the little neighbor girl who was thrilled to come. After the play the little girl and my daughter both wanted to ask Christ into their heart . They prayed together. It was a joyous occasion.
Thinking about the chain of events, it amazes me still. God sent me an angel, a little figurine angel, to remind me about an event that would be significant to my life…and the children.
It was the best Christmas present ever."
When she was done with her amazing story I had to glance up at my Grandma seated in those heavenly places with real winged creatures and smile. I could almost hear her saying for the zillionth time, "God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform."
It happened a week ago…Christmas 2008

