God has given us the responsibility to bear witness of his love and to save lost souls before Jesus comes again. I could tarry through the day without regard for God’s calling or I could recount the Christmas Eve blessing God bestowed upon my family. I choose the latter and so it goes…on Christmas Eve 2015, our family attended a wonderful Christmas Eve service at church and then returned home for a magical evening of decorating Christmas cookies for Santa.
I watched as Nana and the boys prepared angels, snowmen, Santa's, stars, candy canes, stockings and elves; I even made a few creations of my own. What a joy it was watching them make the most adorable cookies you ever did see. As the evening came to a close, the younger boys went upstairs to bed awaiting Santa’s arrival. My oldest son stayed behind with me to clean the counters and stash away the evidence of our cookie production magic.
As I put away the cookie cutters, I thought I heard Adam’s name in my ear. I turned to Adam and said, “I think your Nana is hollering for you.” With the television blaring in the next room, he thought I was just hearing things and continued to clean. Then, I said again, “Nana is calling your name from outside.” As the dog started to bark, he decided maybe I was right. He headed out the door, through the garage and to the outside. Then, as I headed outside myself, I heard him holler, “Call 911, Nana has fallen.”
I frantically ran back inside screaming, “Call 911…Nana has fallen and can’t get up.” Joe quickly made the call and passed the phone to me so he could grab some blankets. He headed outside to cover Nana’s cold body as we anxiously waited on the paramedics. Meanwhile back inside, the other two boys had heard me screaming and raced down the stairs. I quickly explained the situation and told them to return to their beds. As I stood at the bottom of the stairs, Austin headed upstairs and then did an about face, grabbed my hands into his hands and prayed his Nana would live.
Nana had fallen on her face in the driveway and was bleeding from several areas. She said she was feeling nauseous and couldn’t move. Thank God, she was still conscious. When the paramedics arrived, they lifted her from the cold ground, onto the stretcher and then checked all her vital signs. All was fine, but they feared she had a concussion from hitting her head on the hard ground. Nana didn’t want to go to the hospital so they stayed a little longer for observation. She was insistent on returning back inside so they lifted her to her feet and we walked her inside.
The paramedics told us to keep her awake for 2-3 hours because it was possible she was bleeding internally. Around midnight, we determined she was in the clear and called it a night. I climbed into bed and thanked God for saving Nana; this was a true Christmas blessing.
The next morning, as we discussed the night before, Nana and I agreed it wasn’t humanly possible for me to have heard her still small voice calling out for Adam; this had been a Christmas miracle. I will be forever grateful for God’s still voice in my ear and his saving grace. On Christmas Eve 2015, I came to understand the true meaning of divine intervention and the significance of God’s gift.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16