My Christmas Pickle - A Story of the Fathers Love

This may sound like a silly title for a story about my heavenly Father's love but it isn't. See it all started 5 years ago. We had just moved into our current home. We were previously livingly in a 2 bedroom town home with all three boys. Life was cramped. We had lived there for our first 7 years of marriage.

After praying for sometime about finding another home we could afford and would be large enough for us we came across this home. It was originally out of our price range and the owners only wanted a family with one child. Well, with three boys we didn't fit that criteria. Friends of our encouraged us to investigate anyway. Low and behold the owners lowered the price drastically and OK'd our entire family. With that we moved in Sept.

Because of the move and not having a lot of money we knew Christmas was going to be tight. We saved up some money for the boys but knew we could not spend anything on Scott or I. It didn't bother me too much. I didn't mind because I love giving more than getting. But one thing I did miss though was going to get a new ornament that year for our tree. I love getting ornaments that represent special moments in our lives. They become wonderful testimonies of events in our lives that help our family to reflect about God's goodness right before the New Year.

With our current financial situation I knew we wouldn't be able to buy anything. One ornament I really wanted was a Glass Pickle. It's a german tradition and it held a happy memory from my past as a child. I thought that would make a great ornament to represent the blessing the Lord gave us through this house. I never told anyone about it, I just tucked it in my heart quietly away.

A few days before Christmas break from school I walked with the boys to the bus stop just like we do every other day of school. Nothing special. The boys hopped on the bus that morning and I turned to leave after waving and blowing kisses to everyone. When I turned there was one of the other mom's standing in front of me with a Christmas bag. I didn't know her very well, in actuality I didn't even know her name. I saw here there every morning and afternoon picking up her son but we were never cordially introduced to one another. We smiled and nodded every morning to one another but that's about it.

This time she said her name was Anne and she knew we were new to the neighborhood so she got me a Christmas gift. She said it was for the family. I took the bag, smiled and probably had a very shocked look on my face. It just blew me away that someone would give a total stranger a gift at Christmas.

I quickly went home ready to put the gift under the tree but the Lord stirred in my heart to open it up. Now I know you are all thinking it wasn't the Lord, "Livin stop spiritualizing your own curiosity and greed here." :-) But really it was the Lord. I opened it up and out came a Glass Pickle Ornament. I was blown away. I heard the Lord very clearly say "Merry Christmas, this is My gift to you."

He knew.

He heard.

He read my heart.

The Father so loved me that He even had a total stranger deliver a gift to me. It might seem silly or insignificant to others but to me that Glass Pickle represents the Fathers amazing Love. Every year now we get out the tree we remind the kids of the story of our pickle. We tell them that God does really hear you even when you tuck away your thoughts and desires and dreams deep in your heart where no one else has heard them before. There aren't days that go by that I don't think about my pickle. You know the Lady Anne, well she moved out of town right after that. I never received another gift from her again. I did thank her the next week for the gift. All she said was "I was shopping and thought I should pick something up for your family for Christmas. I read the story about the Glass Pickle and felt like it might be something your family would enjoy doing every year."

Wow, she had no idea about my past memories as a child and having the pickle ornament and she had no clue that I really wanted one but could not afford it that Christmas.

So what is tucked away in your heart that you have never shared with anyone? You may feel the desire, thought or dream will never come to pass because it is hidden inside of you but just wait and see. The Lord loves to listen to us even when we don't audibly speak. He loves to listen to our hearts and give us our desires.