When God redeemed my worst Christmas ever by using it for good, it came as a big surprise. Most likely because 1982 was the year of my worst Christmas ever, and the using it for good part didn’t come along until December of 2024.
42 years is a long time, which explains my surprise.
When Christmas of 1982 rolled around, our medically-fragile baby was 7 months old. He’d already been through major surgeries, airplane rides, hospital stays, tube feedings, and who knows how many doctors’ appointments. Had I not been too sleep-deprived to muster a single creative thought, I could have penned the lyrics for The Twelve Days of a Medically-Fragile Kid’s Christmas.
All we wanted for Christmas that year was to stay home.
So we did. It wasn’t the first time my husband hadn’t gone home for Christmas, but it was the first for me. Thanks to dear friends in the town where we lived, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Those friends––he was our pastor, his wife was our son’s back up babysitter, and their 2 older kids were my students––invited us to Christmas dinner. Their extended families were there, too, and our baby was the center of attention all day.
Even so, Christmas 1982 was my worst Christmas ever.
Image from @mekht on Unsplash
That changed this past November when one of their sons texted us. Having visited his parents during the summer, we were aware of our former pastor’s dementia and increasing care needs. We’d told his kids to call us if they needed extra help. In his text, the son asked if we could come and stay with his parents for the final week of his mom’s recovery from surgery. We checked our calendars. The week was completely open––a minor miracle for us. Everyone keeps telling us how kind we were to say yes.
My husband and I didn’t see it that way. What we saw was how God was redeeming our hardest Christmas ever for his glory. We saw it as one example of God’s Romans 8:28 promise being accomplished in and through his people. We were grateful for the opportunity to spend a week repaying old friends for their long ago kindness to us and our baby. I remain surprised and in awe of how, in 2024, God changed my perspective about our worst Christmas ever as he used it for good.
This Christmas is shaping up to be the worst ever for several people in my world. One family has a son who will be receiving chemo treatment during the holidays. One soon-to-be mama with a December 25 due date knows her baby will live only a few minutes. Three families in our church small group are grieving the unexpected deaths of parents. My heart aches for them and for you, I am asking God to be their comfort and yours if this Christmas is a hard and sad one for you. I am specifically praying Romans 8:28––
And we know that for those who love God
all things work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)
––over you and your loved ones this Christmas. I’m also praying that when his answer comes, whether it be tomorrow or a year from now, in 42 years, or sometime in between, you will recognize it. I’m praying because I believe without a shadow of doubt that God fulfills this promise in the lives of all who love him and are called according to his purposes. Not only because he has fulfilled that promise in my life, but also because of another of his promises about his Son, the gift of whose birth we are about to celebrate.
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:32 (ESV)
Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregiving community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She’s also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and Amazon. See Jane Dig!, the fourth book in her West River cozy mystery series, which features characters affected by disability, was released in October of 2024.
