Have you ever experienced something completely amazing and unexplainable? Some may even go so far to call these events a miracle. Well let me tell you I believe in miracles. I never did before what I’m about to share with you happened, but ever since that fateful night I know deep in my heart that miracles happen. There is magic out there somewhere, just waiting to happen to the right people at the right time. The right time for me and my family happened on a cold and hungry night in late December, Christmas Eve to be exact.
I am a hard-working father of two beautiful little girls. They are so full of life and a magic that it fills me with joy to come home after a long day out in the fields and see their bouncing little steps as they dive into my arms and hold me as if they haven’t seen me in weeks. That is why my heart was so broken on this frigid Christmas Eve. I own a farm and this season was particularly bad. All our crops failed. Not a single sprout of corn burst into the light of day. We were out of money and the cupboard was completely bare.
My precious wife was such a savior in the beginning of our troubles. She knit sweaters, scarves and mittens just like grandma used to make and hiked the many miles to the town market and sold what she could almost every day. She even gave some of her wares to the poor children that wandered around the streets of town. She is the most loving and generous woman that I have ever known. Unfortunately, even the fruits born by her efforts came to a halt. We weren’t the only family suffering a crop failure in our neck of the woods and it was beginning to take its toll on everyone.
As time slowly ticked away so did our food supply. At one point, we still had some grain left over from last season, but human stomachs were not the only ones that had to be fed. There was our faithful horse Walter who worked just as hard as all of us, and the cows and pigs we raised for food and milk. When the last bit of grain was served, we had no choice but to begin selling off our livestock. Every pig and cow in the field was sold to the highest bidder, most of the time for a simple bag of stale grain. Even Walter had to go which broke my heart.
Time passed and here we are on that fateful Christmas Eve. It was seven o’clock on the dot and we were all gathered around the dining room table just looking at each other’s empty faces. We had set the table with our best china in hopes that our neighbors would come by with a surprise bit of food. There was no chance however. It had already snowed fourteen inches in the past two days and there was no sign that it was going to stop. I had even cut down a nice little pine tree the other day to at least attempt to bring a little Christmas cheer into our lives. It only served to depress us further though as there were no decorations on it, and even worse no presents under it.
As the clock struck seven what we knew to be the worst Christmas Eve ever became even worse still. In the blink of an eye our power went out. We were completely in the dark. I managed to find a candle and matches but unfortunately the matches were wet from snow that had melted and dripped through a crack in the roof. In a fit of anger, I threw the unlit candle across the room and that’s when the miracles began! The candle never hit the wall. In a dazzling display the candle appeared in mid-air lit up like the fourth of July! But that wasn’t the only thing to appear. Holding the candle was an angel, an honest to goodness angel! She had the most beautiful wings I had ever seen! As we all stood there frozen in place the angel put her finger to her lips and slowly moved the candle in a wide circle so we could see around the whole room. Where there was once an empty table, there was a full course meal. Where there was once a bare pine tree, there was the most beautifully decorated Christmas tree I had ever laid eyes on. And best of all, where there was once an empty space under the tree, it was full of expertly wrapped presents for our two beautiful daughters.
In the blink of an eye she vanished, but the light remained and so did everything else. We ate what was the most delicious meal ever in complete silence and the biggest grins you have ever seen in your life. After the last bite was eaten we gathered around the tree and opened the angelic gifts full of awe and wonder. The girls received just what they had wished for in their hearts with laughter and joy as me and my wife held each other and watched full of love and contentment. There was even a gift for me and the Mrs. under the tree. A big bag of gold to be exact!
It’s been one year since this beautiful miracle, and now our eyes shine a little brighter, our smiles stretch a little wider and our laughter is just a bit heartier. There’s magic in our souls now, a magic that will never fade away. Oh, and guess what? There was enough gold in that bag to buy back Walter and keep us afloat this whole past year and even into next. We never saw that angel again but we don’t need to. She will live in our memories always in what was almost the Christmas that never was.