Dec. 22, 2009
Christmas 2009 will forever be our most memorable, because of the gifts we have received from God this year.
He once again showed His generous heart through the breathtaking gift of one of our donors (Ray and I raise support for our salaries at Probe Ministries) who wanted to see us in a larger home. He thought that the president of a ministry should be able to have people over without feeling cramped the moment they walk in the door. So, a week ago, we moved into a home two and half times bigger than the one we’d lived in for 25 years, the home in which I always assumed we’d live out our days.
As always, God’s timing is exquisitely perfect, and He arranged for us to find this home—two blocks from Probe’s new offices in the Hope Center; my husband walked to work this morning!—just ten days after it went on the market. We closed in time to host three Christmas parties in this amazing house that is perfect for entertaining.
We moved in five days before the first party. That sounds absolutely nuts, but the Lord’s Christmas gift had a “Part Two.” One of the reasons He wants us to live in community is because He knows we need other people to “do life” with. And every day, women came over to help me unpack boxes, organize my kitchen and office, hang pictures, and decorate for Christmas. One day as I gave thanks for the lunch one especially productive and energetic friend and I were about to eat, I believe the Lord whispered to my heart, “Tammy is one of My Christmas gifts to you.”
And that is what’s really nuts. . . the idea that the God of the Universe, whose incarnation we celebrate at the core of all the “Xmas” hoopla, would give me a Christmas gift.
But that’s what grace looks like. It looks like this amazing, lovely home we don’t deserve. It looks like a friend giving up her vacation week to make sure my home was ready to bless others. It looks like women coming over to be my hands and feet when post-polio has diminished my strength and energy reserves.
And it looks like God wrapping Himself in flesh to live among us. Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus!
This blog post originally appeared at blogs.bible.org/tapestry/sue_bohlin/birthday_gifts_from_jesus
Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 40 years. She is a speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to Bible.org's Engage Blog. In addition to being a professional calligrapher, she is the wife of Probe's Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of a son in San Francisco and another son who joined his baby sister in heaven in 2024.. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
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