Pondering My Christmas Gifts - The Fifth Day of Christmas

Greetings and Merry Christmas Beloved Readers,

We try so hard to do so much to give the perfect Christmas gifts to others and we seldom allow ourselves to receive perfect gifts. God in his infinite wisdom gives them to us anyway. Today I had the happiest of accidents and in its serendipity God provided me with both joy and wonder at the meticulous nature of his care for me. Perhaps I am starting in the middle, so I will return to the beginning.

I am having dinner tonight with my in-laws. I love them dearly and that love has grown much over the last ten years. They are good people but as Avalon divorces me they have mostly ignored me in the situation.

Their one communication about it said that she is “our daughter and we are supporting her at this time.” I guess I expected better of them. They always seemed more interested in the truth and in following what was right rather than in following a formula. So they have left us out of Thanksgiving and Christmas but wished us to come over for dinner. Needless to say I am not sure what to say to them.

In the midst of my consternation over yet another open wound to my heart, God saw fit to arrange, without my asking or thinking of to present me with five perfect things. These things on their own can be great, but today, at this time and place they worked together to magically call forth memories of better times and people who truly loved me for me.
Just before I left for Georgia this Christmas, I had Maxim and his bride Raven over for dinner and to exchange gifts. Since I did not feel like making a big Christmas dinner and it was International Hamburger Day, I made hamburgers with all the fixings. That meal forgotten and many days past, I came to lunch time today not knowing what I wished but wanting something special.

I looked in the fridge and realized there was a pound of bacon thawed that needed cooking. Then my eye caught something else, lettuce and tomato that remained from Hamburger Day. They were both still quite fresh and good. I knew I had Miracle Whip® in abundance and I had brought back from Georgia one of the most precious products from my childhood; a large loaf of Sunbeam Bread®. You see these five things, properly prepared combine to make the favorite sandwich of my childhood, the BLT.

The bacon sizzled, the bread toasted, the Miracle Whip was spread, the tomato sliced and the lettuce torn. I spent a good half hour properly building and cutting those sandwiches. I spent a good hour savoring them. Memories of my Grandfather and fishing swam through my mind. Forgotten was my current pain and longing for my missing spouse. Far from my mind was anything other than the tangy sweet joy of those five things combining to make the little boy in me awaken with a fervor. I recalled the many times this particular meal had chased away my blues and lightened my heart. God is good. He arranged for all the necessary parts to be in play at just the right moment. It had to be Sunbeam Bread. It had to be Miracle Whip. It had to ripe juicy tomato and crisp green lettuce. The bacon had to be hickory smoked and almost crisp. They were all just as they should be.

So for the fifth day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me five perfect things, four children to gather round me, the blessing of the Trinity, twice the joy of giving, and a purpose for carrying his tree.

Wishing you joy in the journey and a Merry Christmas

Aramis Thorn