Pizza At The Hospital

Read on December 8

Story provided by Carrie

“Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” —John 14:17

Carrie’s daughter, Grace, was born a preemie with multiple birth defects and was only two and a half years old when she was scheduled for her fifth operation. After the spinal surgery, Grace had to lay flat on her back for two days. The doctor told them the surgery had been extensive, and he couldn’t be sure Grace would regain any control of her lower body because of nerve damage. 

On Christmas Eve, the hospital allowed the family to spend the night in Grace’s hospital room. Friends brought a pizza dinner for them and the entire staff of the children’s floor. The young family read the Christmas story before they all fell asleep on a blow-up mattress. 

On Christmas morning, Carrie’s parents brought breakfast and all the presents from under the tree at home. The young family stayed in their Christmas PJs the entire day and truly enjoyed the blessing of family as they celebrated the birth of Christ. Carrie remembers that time as the most peaceful Christmas she ever had.

Later that afternoon, Grace took her first steps again. 

By that evening, she was dancing around the room. 

Carrie describes it as their Christmas miracle. 

The biblical Christmas story is a story of miracles. But who were the people to experience the miraculous during those days?

Of course, Mary and Joseph understood that Jesus’ birth was a miracle. Elizabeth and Zechariah knew that Mary’s baby was of God. The shepherds experienced the miraculous in the fields, then witnessed a miracle when they came to find the newborn baby. The wise men knew they were in the presence of a King. But, most who lived in those early first-century days missed the miraculous. 

For those who knew Mary and Joseph back home, the couple was expecting a child. For those in the inn, there was simply a newborn baby crying in the stable. The shepherds in other fields had a good night’s sleep and woke to tend to their sheep for another day. Most people missed the miracle of Christ’s birth.

Most people still do. 

The babe of Bethlehem is the King who saves our souls. That King is the Holy Spirit who has chosen to indwell the life of every believer. 

The baby that Mary held in her arms is the Spirit which lives in us. He is present, and that is our proof that Christmas is still a miracle today. 

Let’s not miss the miracle of Christmas.