Advent Devotional: Tuesday, December 3, 2024

December 3, 2024

You are my God, and I will give you thanks.

You are my God, and I will exalt you.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good

His love endures forever. Psalm 118:28-29

Illustrated by Harrison Rose (Age 10)

At age 92 I can look back at many memories. So many times as I reminisce, I think how lucky I was. Some little event, some little urge, some decision that was the right one, had an astonishingly important effect on my life. I remember so clearly one example of “luck” that made my life so meaningful and wonderful.

As I sat on the couch one afternoon daydreaming, my gaze fell upon a beanbag frog someone had given me. It was a homemade, cotton fabric, bean-filled, little figure with two legs and what seemed like small arms. I impulsively picked it up and put it on my left shoulder in the same way one might lift a baby to pat its back. A rush started in my throat, went to my feet, then back up again while my brain cried out, “I want a baby, I want a baby!” Within a month and a half, I was pregnant and our son was born in December of that year. Luck? I don’t think so.

A bit of background will clarify why I know this was miraculous. My husband John and I had been married 12 years. I had experienced a miscarriage on our first anniversary, but had no pregnancy after that. We were busy, life was interesting; we were traveling quite often, John’s radio work schedule was 2:00 to 6:00, which allowed us to take advantage of the entertainment part of radio work. I was volunteering in an elementary school in DC.

We thought about a family, but we found no answers to why it wasn’t happening. Then I picked up the frog that day and put him on my shoulder.

Thank you God.

Countless times I have repeated those words as both important and unimportant events have happened. It could be as unimportant as a green light when I’m late for an appointment; deciding to move our familiar furniture rather than buy new; I later knew that was a very important decision as John began developing dementia; waking up in the middle of the night remembering where the “lost” item was; discovering Aerobic Dancing when I wanted to lose weight and spending 17 years leading classes and staying very healthy; that meant I could tolerate cancer treatments when they struck later.

These life-changing and simple things say to me that God is with me every day. The magical thing is that he is with all of us if we can recognize it. As we go into the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas days we’ll notice many little and important events. Thank you, God. Thank you.

Heavenly Father, I pray for peace and love for those people who feel unlucky or who suffer and need your comfort and love. So many people are in need of blessing and help. Help us who know your love share our joy with those who haven’t had the same chances to live with love and good “luck”. In God’s name, Amen