Our Christmas Miracle — James & Molly Bass

Hey friends and family,

I hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season so far. That as you are shopping for presents, attending work Christmas parties, and listening to Michael Buble's magical voice booming from every store front, you find yourself actually getting to enjoy this season. I know for us this holiday season we have a fresh and deep appreciation for being able to spend these holidays at home with family and friends. There's nothing quite like being home for Christmas.

But I know for some of you, enjoying this Christmas season is the last thing on your mind instead you find yourself swept up in a tizzy of worry, frustration, and sadness. True confessions of Molly Bass, today Christmas sent me into a tizzy of worry. I had come down with a violent sort of stomach bug that put me out for the better part of yesterday and this morning, and the first thing that I decided to do once I woke up and felt a bit better was to pull up our bank account online. That's where the tizzy came into play, because there are still Christmas presents to buy and my bank account didn't look like it wanted to afford those presents much less the second car we are probably needing to purchase soon.

Then, I got in the shower (where all my good talks with God happen, don't know why, probably because I take half an hour showers...) and I felt like God said "Molly, what makes you think I won't provide this Christmas when I've provided every other one."

He brought to memory this particular Christmas 3 years ago. James and I had been married for a little over a year and we were celebrating our 2nd Christmas together in Abilene. James was in grad school and I was finishing up my job and graduating with my bachelor's degree before I moved off to San Antonio to do my child life internship. Our savings was pretty much depleted and both of our little part time jobs were barely covering the bills, and that was with our parents already helping us out each month with our rent while we were both still in school. We had this moment, right about finals week that December, when we both looked at each other and had the discussion of I don't know if we can afford to buy groceries this next week, what are we going to do. As you may very well know, those discussions are always a downer. We really didn't know what to do, and we most definitely did not want to have to go to our parents. Later that week a friend of ours who was in lifegroup with us stopped James in the hall on the way to class and handed him a check for $75 so that we could go on a date night. We hadn't told our lifegroup that we were struggling financially, I mean honestly, finances were always a struggle being two full time college students and it was embarrassing talking about it. But that check was our first hint that God was up to something that Christmas. An out of the blue bit of provision to remind us that he knew us, he saw us, and he was going to see us through. At the end of the week, right as finals were ending for James and I, James was meeting with his usual group of guys for coffee one morning. One of our friends in that group, opened up his checkbook, and asked "how much do you need to make it this month?" James told him an amount and he wrote out a check for that amount and gave it to us with nothing more said than a "Merry Christmas." As you can imagine, we were stunned and for the next day we went between shock, happy tears, and smiling like crazy. I knew right then, that it was a Christmas that God was permanently tattooing on me a lesson of his nearness and his provision in every circumstance.

So this morning, after waking up and looking at my bank account first thing (which is overall just not the smartest thing to do) God brought that Christmas up, the Christmas where he literally had somebody write us a blank check. And after he brought that up it's as if all my fears, concerns, and worries were swept up in the enormity of that memory.

Because if He could do that then, why can't he do it now? If he could provide us with a savior of the world 2,000 plus years ago, not in the way we were expecting him, but in the way we needed, why can't he provide what we need now?

So this is an encouragement for all of you who aren't experiencing the most enjoyable of Christmases at the moment. Whether it's finances, family, or jobs...be encouraged that our God has proven time and time again throughout history and in our lives his generous provision. And he's not about to stop or slow down.

As ya'll are thinking of us this Christmas season continue to be in prayer for James' job. He's had some interviews and opportunities that have come up and we are so thankful, but we just want to make sure we are led by God the entire way.

In the new year, we will be announcing a mission's trip we will be embarking on this summer. We are so excited to share with you about this trip and how you can be a part of it! So get ready, it's going to be good!

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Love,

The Basses