The littlest gesture delivered love on a lonely Christmas
eve.
Family in California.
Friends at different churches. No
boyfriends to offer comfort. It was my
first Christmas holiday alone.
One of my biggest fears was sitting alone in church. Church, where sometimes we feel more alone and on our own than outside in the world. I was afraid of watching from afar while
all the families huddled together in their respective rows.
So imagine the relief that flooded my pensive heart when I saw a friend I had
met a couple months earlier in Fellowship’s Connect Class. He and his girlfriend smiled my way and I
felt more than blessed as I sat next to them. We
were together, him on one side, his girlfriend in the middle, and me on the other
end. The chairs to my right were empty.
As the service ended we prepared to light our
candles. The pastor on stage conducted
us in holding hands as we closed the night, candles still lit.
Mathematically,
my mind sped, if you have two hands and
one is holding a candle, you only have one to give, one hand free to hold. If we
each only have one hand, I thought, logic says you use that one free hand to hold the hand of your loved one,
especially if it is a holiday.
Love—well, love must speak a little differently than the
logic sounding in my mind.
As I rattled off this equation in my head, fearing I
would be left to hold my own hand, his girlfriend reached out with her free
hand and grabbed mine.
On her other side, my friend, her boyfriend, struggled to
awkwardly hold both her hand and the candles simultaneously, sacrificing simplicity, sacrificing holding
her hand on a special holiday evening, so that another could feel loved.
In the grand scheme of life, of the world, it seems like
a minute detail. But a year later, I’m
reminded of that night—of that small, seemingly insignificant moment.
Minute details are often more than just a peephole to the
love of Christ. Minute details are often
the windows to large instrumental blessings.
We can’t always see how others are hurting. We don’t even always receive thank-you’s for
the kindness we share. We don’t often
bear witness to the fruit of our actions and interactions, or even know if our
actions were enough for fruit to be born at all.
But we know whatever we do, we glorify God.
And on a Christmas Eve spent alone, I had a piece of the
Father’s personal love set into my heart, because there was glory to be given.
A year ago, I thought of this moment, God. Of a moment small enough to be
overlooked. But it wasn’t. You were there with me in that church and
delivered to me the right people at the right time. In small moments such as this one, it is Your
mercy, grace, and compassion that are felt.
Thank You, God, for the givers of minute details. The receivers of these moments witness Your
love in such a pure way. And I ask that
you bless my friend and his new fiancé, both in their individual walks with
You, and always as their paths converge into one. Let them always see You in the difficult
times, be blessed by Your constant presence, and continue on to be a light of
Your love to others around them in need, an inspiration to all.
So,
whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1
Corinthians 10:31).
For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men (Colossians
3:23).
