Christmas.

It's almost Christmas!! I'm so excited. I love everything about this season- from October to December I'm in Heaven!! Although I love Easter dearly, I feel very close to Jesus around Christmas.
We should feel this way every day, I know, but at Christmas I feel like just the reminder that Jesus went through the same things as me and walked on this earth's dirt comforts me. a lot.

Jesus blesses each of us, I believe, with little encounters to remind us of Him. I wish we could just see Him now, but these gifts He gives us can be pretty sweet. So I have a story to share.
My family and I were at the airport, and this girl came up to us- just dying to say hi. She was in a wheelchair, and someone I presumed to be her brother told us-as she came up excusing herself profusely-that she just really wanted to say hi.
So she introduced herself, and then as we told her our names she just kept shaking her head and telling us how much she loved us, and how much she was praying for us. And she meant it! It wasn't just an ' oh, I'll be praying for you...'. It was an 'oh! I love you! I just LOVE you! And I'll be praying for you because I love you.'

How often do you get that from a stranger?? Not often enough is my guess. I was touched by dear Bridget, to say the least. I've been thinking about her these last few weeks, as I promised to pray for her, too. She embodied Jesus' love- unashamedly and freely giving it to all. It blessed my heart to meet her.
After we met her, Mom and Dad told me what her parents had told them. Bridget had been a junior in college when she was in a car accident. She suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury.
My first thought was sadness. Even as a freshman in high school, I have dreams. I know she probably had big dreams and goals, too. How would I have felt if that had happened to me? Life really is so fragile. But I remembered this Bible verse as I thought of her recently...

 "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jeremiah 29:11

 Hope. A future. The life Bridget lives today may not be what she imagined when she was my age, but her life is in perfect alignment with God's vision. And it is beautiful. I know my family isn't the only one she has touched, and my prayer is that she will continue to be able to touch many more. She is following God's perfect plan, and is living proof that Jeremiah 29:11 is true. God does NOT mean to harm us. He gives us a future. As hard to see as that may have been for Bridget's family after that accident, it is clear that He has a perfect plan for her and that He is using her in amazing ways to bring people to Him.
Isn't it comforting to know this is true for each of us? Whether we minister from a hut in Africa, a classroom at home, or a wheelchair at the airport, God has a plan for us. And it is perfect.
May you rest without worry for the year 2012 as you enjoy this Christmas. Your Blogger,
Claire