Merry Christmas, Mama

Struggling this Christmas? Have faith in the God Who sees and hears! I want to share with you my favorite true Christmas testimony of the goodness of God. The fervent prayers of a righteous mom avail much!

Oranges for Christmas

It was Christmas 1975, and I was in the sixth grade. Two of my very favorite childhood things were Christmas and oranges! What do oranges and Christmas have in common? To this young girl, they spoke of a faithful and loving God who answered prayer. Let me tell you my favorite true Christmas story.

Our family was very poor. 1975 was the worst year we had ever had. We were selling everything out of our garage, living from day to day. 

On Sundays, we attended church at the rescue mission and served food to the homeless. We also ate our meal there. We especially liked the stale and sticky day-old donuts. They were delicious to those of us who had to eat turnip soup regularly. 

At Thanksgiving, we helped serve the meal at the mission as usual, but my Mom began to pray and ask God if He would allow us to have Christmas dinner in our own home. A financial impossibility, but she had great faith–until Christmas Eve. 

That night, Mom went into her bedroom and prayed while we watched football. She wondered how she could make the macaroni and cheese and hot dogs special but to no avail. Hot dogs were hot dogs, and this was Christmas! 

Not much was under our artificial tree except a few small trinkets Dad and Mom found at the thrift store. I can still remember the little box that opened with a snap and held a little Indian and his maiden dressed in leather and beads. But I can’t remember which football team was winning when the doorbell rang. 

Standing at the door was a timid man and his wife, “Does Suzanne live here?” Dad answered in the affirmative as Mom came out. “We found you!” They said they had no idea where we lived, but they prayed and God directed them to our house. They were as amazed as we were that they had found us. 

Then it happened – in came boxes of food. There was the biggest turkey you ever saw, ham, candy, nuts, fruit, and all the trimmings for the finest Christmas meal! Dad was laughing, Mom was crying, and my sisters and I were smiling from ear to ear. God had not forgotten us but had found a family that would be His hands that Christmas Eve and bring a meal in His Name. 

What spoke of God’s love for that sixth grade, red-haired little girl and what I remember most in all those boxes were the biggest, brightest oranges I had ever seen! I knew that I knew those oranges were a gift straight from God to me, and since then I have been a firm believer that God answer’s a mother’s fervent prayers and that He loves His red-haired little girl.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

“Thank you, Father, for sending us your only Son. You are worthy of all glory and honor and praise. We can’t thank You or glorify You enough for coming to be with us and taking on our humanity and bringing redemption. We are unworthy of such great love.”

A very blessed and Holy holiday to each of you and your precious families from all of us at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.

~Deborah

Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor and Director of Production here at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She would say she is a very ordinary homeschool mom–with one exception: she has an extraordinary God Who provides all she needs for life and homeschooling. She has eight children aged 11 to 29. Deborah’s mission is this: to point other homeschoolers to the Lord in all they do, think, and feel—and to confirm that they, too, can find everything they need for life, godliness, and homeschooling in their knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3-4).