«Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me’ » (John 14:6).
At my house there was never any money for expensive gifts or luxuries any time of the year, but when Christmas came around, I remember we always received at least a small gift.
That time we had just arrived in the United States. Adapting, learning English, and the cold weather were proving difficult for us. And although our first snowy Christmas was approaching, just like in the movies, we missed the sweltering heat of Uruguay.
Since we had a meager income, that year we went to a store where everything was sold for a dollar, each of us got four dollars and, with each dollar, we would buy something for each member of the family. That way everyone would get four very inexpensive gifts, but they had to be useful things we needed at the time.
The challenge seemed interesting and new, and that Christmas Eve, with great love, we gave each other scissors, notebooks, chap stick and other little things. It was a unique and memorable time. It meant a lot of things and made us feel grateful to God for being with us in that new adventure. My sister and I, pleased with our gifts, weren’t expecting anything else. But our parents had made an additional sacrifice and bought us a Red Washington card each. With those cards we could make a prepaid call to our friends in Uruguay. Each one had cost ten dollars, and we knew the gift was too «luxurious» in our situation. But they had done it out of love and had given us the gift of communicating with those we loved most.
I didn’t think of it at the time, but years later as I look back on it, I think our heavenly Father also made an extra effort to give us communication. Our direct access to Him was not through a card, but through His Son.
Even if the date is not the actual date of Jesus’s birth, we have the wonderful opportunity to reflect these days on that immense sacrifice that restored communication between Heaven and Earth. That is what it is all about every day of the year.
There is no temperature, country, language or financial situation that can cut off the communication God gave us in His great love. Wherever and however you are right now, thank Him for that gift: Immanuel, God with us.
