Dear Reader:

Yesterday I read a true short Christmas story from Guidepost (author-Craig Johnson) that took my “I Believe” personal “escalator” to the very top of the faith pole…even setting off a bell at the top!

“The Star that Saved Christmas” 

“I’m a CSI, crime-scene investigator, for Los Angeles County and it’s a 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a- year job. Even on Christmas Eve. I went to bed that night hoping to sleep until morning, when my three daughters would rush in giddy and impatient to open their gifts. But at midnight the phone rang. “We need you at a crime scene,” the dispatcher said. 

There had been a home burglary in a poor area of the city. “It can’t wait until the morning,” the deputy at the scene told me when I called for details. “You’ll understand when you get here.”

I drove to the location. The deputy met me at the door. “Try and be quiet, their kids are sleeping,” he said, leading me inside. 

A man and woman were holding each other in the dimly lit hallway, their eyes red from crying. I walked into the living room. Now I understood. Lying on its side was a skinny Christmas tree, nothing but carpet where Christmas presents should have been. “We saved all year for those gifts,” the man said to me. “If there’s anything you can do”…and his trembling lips and glazed expression turned away.

Determined, I dusted everything in the house for fingerprints. There was no chance of solving the case without them. By tomorrow the stolen goods would be history. But the thief had been thorough; everything had been wiped. “I’m sorry,” I said to the couple, utterly dismayed. But what could I do?  I slowly headed for the door.

Suddenly a golden glint shone right into my eyes, too bright to ignore. What’s that? I wondered.

I swung the front door out of the way and looked behind it. On the floor was a gold star tree topper. But it wouldn’t have just rolled out of sight? Maybe the burglar had touched it.

I dusted it and developed the most complete, full fingerprint I’d ever seen. At the station, I ran it against our records. The identified suspect lived around the corner from the victims. I called the deputy with the information, then drove back over to the family’s home.

I pulled up at the same time the deputy did. The suspect was cuffed in the back of the police car. The deputy grinned and popped the trunk, full of the stolen gifts. “We got our man,” he said.

Yes, we did. But not without a little help from a star- a Christmas star – behind a door, in the dim light -that shone just for me.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

I have often wondered if I had been alive at the time and sighting of the Christmas star…would I have reacted to it, would I have believed it “shone just for me” or simply ignored it as just an unusually big beautiful star? What did the wise men see that night that others didn’t…something that made them change their plans and destination completely for a long sojourn elsewhere ….perhaps leading everywhere or nowhere?

So until tomorrow…Does God give us the gift of an extra special insight if we are open to His miracles with our outer sight? If our eyes are open to His possibilities?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Our Lowcountry “Snow” – Yesterday we woke up to the most beautiful frost-covered scene…it looked like a sheet of ice with snow had covered the whole street. Even the frozen rose bush was exquisite with the white frost as its backdrop.

Carol Seavy, a wonderful friend from the church, stopped by yesterday with the most delicious soup…a perfect day for the perfect soup and chocolate chip cookies to boot! Yahoo! Thank you Carol and I so enjoyed our visit!