It's Coming!

I'm the oldest of seven children and when I was growing up we didn't have a lot of money.  It was a treat just to go to the store and buy a candy bar every once in a while.  We didn't eat out either.  Mom cooked all of our meals, which was usually a big pot of soup or vegetables.  If we did eat out, which was once in a blue moon, it was just a grilled cheese sandwich at a little drive inn.  I didn't eat at a McDonald's until I was married.  My husband thought it was funny because I told him my dream was to one day to be able to buy a box of ice cream sandwiches and eat the whole box!  I had three brothers and if you didn't get to the table right when mom called us it was ready, you might not get anything to eat. I've had that happen a few times.

I wore hand me down clothes and shoes that were given to me by some of my cousins.  I didn't know what it was like to have a new dress.  I do remember being all excited one afternoon.  My older cousin, Wanda, worked at a 5 and 10 store, as we used to call them.  She called my mother to find out what size dress I wore.  She bought me 5 new dresses.  I was so thrilled.  I still remember what one of them looked like.  It was a yellow dress with pretty little flowers around the border. I felt like a Princess with all those new dresses!  I didn't know which one to wear first.  She also bought me other dresses.  She was so good to me and I've never forgot it.

One year just a few weeks before Christmas we didn't have a tree up.  We kept asking mom when we were going to put up our tree.  She answered we would tell daddy to go get us one that afternoon.  Winters in Indiana get very cold and it was beginning to get dark.  Daddy still wasn't home.  I was so anxious to get a tree.  I loved putting up the tree and decorating it with all the lights and ornaments.  After it was decorated we always turned out all the lights and sat and looked at the tree while Christmas music played.  I loved Christmas and still do.

This afternoon it seemed he would never come home.  It was beginning to snow.  Great big snowflakes were falling from the sky and the ground was quickly becoming white.  It was also growing darker.  I remember thinking we're not going to get a tree put up today.  I was tired, bored, and sad, so I laid down on the sofa and was soon fast asleep.

I don't know how long I napped, but I was awakened by voices.  When I opened my eyes, my dad and grandfather were coming through the door with a great big beautiful green live tree.  My heart was thrilled.  We had a Christmas tree!  We all gathered around and began decorating the most beautiful tree I had ever seen. 

This reminds me of God's promises.  He says in His Word what He'll do and we begin to wait in earnest expectation for it to happen.  However, most of the time it doesn't come right away.  It's usually a process of time and if we're not careful we can get despondent, and begin to lose hope.  But just when we're about to give up, here it comes!  The promise we've been waiting for is there, coming through the door and our spirits are lifted to new heights.  The thing is, it happened just like He promised. God always comes through.  If He said He'd do it, then you can count on it.  He is true to His Word.

So don't give up.  Keep waiting.  Keep hoping.  Keep looking for the promise.  Soon you'll look up and there it will be!  The promise, the thing you've been praying about and longing for will be right there.  God always keeps His promises.