Today 2014-12-25 Jn 1:12-13 But to those who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. Ever since Estrella and I migrated to the US back in August/September 1993, there is a movie that that I see being shown on tv every Christmas season titled “A Christmas Story”. There are also a lot more other Christmas movies, and one of my favorites, a feel good movie for a hopeless romantic like me, is titled “Love Actually”. However, today I share with you bits and pieces of my personal Christmas stories. December 24, 1993…midnight…I was all alone in our apartment in Des Plaines, Illinois. Estrella and the 2 other nurses who lived with us were all working. I looked outside the window…it was snowing hard and everything appeared to be so bright as lights from the neighborhood reflected back as it hit the white snow on the ground which was about 2 feet deep. I could not help myself but cry, this being the very first Christmas in my life that I did not spend with family…did not spend with anyone at all! The feeling made me ask myself, “What am I doing here?” December 24, 2014…4:00 PM…I picked up Estrella at the hospital where she works and we were on our way to attend the Christmas vigil mass. We will not be able to attend Christmas day mass because Estrella will be working again. As Estrella entered the car she had that sparkle in her eye, so I knew that something good happened at her work that day. I went ahead and asked her how her day was, and just like a little kid, Estrella rattled off like an auctioneer. She said that her day was busy and tedious, but very satisfying. She was taking care of a patient with cancer and had a G-tube for her feeding. This patient was constantly nauseous and so Estrella decided to give her the small bottle of White Flower which Estrella always keeps with her. Estrella explained that this was just something for the patient to smell every once in a while to relieve her nausea, further saying that it worked for her and it might work for the patient too. Estrella said that every time she checked on the patient after giving her the “gift in a small bottle” the patient would profusely thank her. Towards the end of Estrella’s shift she made one more visit to the patient and said Merry Christmas. The patient cried and Estrella felt bad. Noticing this, the patient told Estrella that she was crying tears of joy…that she was very thankful to have Estrella as her nurse, someone who was very compassionate in the care she gave. After hearing the story I understood why Estrella had such a sparkle in her eye, and I knew that there and then I too had a sparkle in mine, that of being a proud husband. December 25, 2014…6:10 AM…Estrella and I were at our neighborhood Starbuck’s getting our breakfast since we did not have any food left at home. I greeted the baristas Merry Christmas and they all responded back to me like a choir. The barista who was attending to me asked where we were headed at such an early hour on Christmas day. I told her that I was driving Estrella to the hospital since she was working, further explaining that sick people do not take days off from being sick even during Christmas. I waited a while for our coffee and when the barista called out my order, I went to pick these up at the counter. As I got to the counter, the barista leaned closer to me and said, “Thank your wife for me for taking care of the sick and elderly, even on Christmas day. And thank you for supporting her and driving her to work. Merry Christmas!” I smiled back and said, “Merry Christmas!” December 25, 2014…9:30 AM…Again I am spending Christmas day all by myself here at home. And yet, I do not feel sorry for myself anymore. In fact, I feel that this is one of the best Christmas days I have had. Yes, Estrella and I are far away from our families and loved ones, but now I believe that this is where God wants us to be, doing what He has planned us to do…Estrella as a nurse taking care of the sick, I on my part just here to support Estrella and to make sure she enjoys Christmas day too even if she has to work. The big difference between Christmas of 1993 and Christmas 2014 is that back then I was only focused on myself and what I wanted or how I wanted to spend Christmas. Today I am focused on God and what He wants me to do. By doing so, Estrella and I are being cared for like never before and like nobody else can…by God Himself. I have faith in so many things, but all these come from my faith in God who created us in His image and likeness. And if we are all created in the Father’s image and likeness then it must be innate in all of us to be good, compassionate, caring, forgiving…loving. After all, our God, our Father, is all these. We can be all these too if we only have faith and surrender our lives to God through Jesus Christ, Him being the real reason why we celebrate CHRISTmas. This is the true gift of Christmas, unwrapped, priceless…but free for all of us who believe in Him. But to those who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. To all of Estrella and my families, relatives, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ…Merry Christmas! Got to sign off now…I have a lunch date with Estrella at their hospital cafeteria. God bless everyone.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 18:39:21 +0000