An Unexpected Arrival

Read on December 24 (Christmas Eve)

Story provided by Bette

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” —Hebrews 11:1

In 1943, Bette and her mom walked to the train station to say goodbye to her daddy, who was going off to war. It was a difficult time for Bette’s mother, but it was also an important and blessed time. 

One day, Bette and her mom were leaving a darkened movie theater when they ran into Bette’s best friend from kindergarten. The friend invited Bette and her mom to church the next Sunday. A few weeks later, Bette’s mom accepted Jesus as her Lord. The church had embraced them, knowing they had a loved one fighting overseas.

Bette’s dad had gone to church as a young man but had never been discipled. However, on a destroyer in the middle of the Pacific, he prayed on his knees, “God, if you will let me live and get home to my wife and child, I will serve you the rest of my life.”

The letters Bette’s mom and dad wrote to each other about their commitments to God crossed in the mail somewhere over the ocean.

On December 15, 1945, Bette’s seventh birthday, she and her mom were sound asleep. They both woke to the knock on the front door. Bette’s mom jumped up to answer, and Bette heard the voices. Soon Bette was running into the arms of her daddy, who had come home just in time for Christmas.

Bette wrote, “The war brought out the kindness in others.” 

Bette remembers her mom struggling with her fears, and she remembers watching her mom’s faith calm them. Her dad used to say that the war, as awful as it was for so many, had been one of his greatest blessings. They had received their faith.

Bette will always know that Christmas 1945 was the most important Christmas of her life. Every Christmas after, Bette and her sister would celebrate the holiday with faiths of their own.

For many, this has been a difficult year, but Bette’s story puts most of our challenges into a proper perspective. Our earthly lives change, and so do our Christmas seasons. The one consistent foundation to all of life’s twists and turns, and every Christmas holiday, is our faith. 

Whatever your Christmas will be this year, it will still be the celebration of an “arrival.” Whatever blessings we have to celebrate this year, or whatever sorrows we have to mourn, we can always celebrate Christmas with faith in Christ.