How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?   Romans 10:14

ONE December day several years ago, my friend’s six-year-old daughter, Alisha, selected an unusual Chrisatmas gift for her Mom. It was a huge candy cane the size of a lawn ornament. Alisha would not change her mind, despite her ad’s and brother’s insistence that she consider something else. When Christmas arrived, her Mom opened her present from Alisha.  Six months later, Alisha died.

Two thousand years ago, God sent us a gift, a poor child laid in a manger and surrounded by unlikely people and even animals. God’s unlikely gift was Jesus. We still celebrate his strange and beautiful entry into our world that he came to save.

Each Christmas season as I look at the candy cane hanging in a place of prominence at their house, I remember that unlikely gifts can have great significance. Jesus truly is the best gift we can give or receive.

God, help us to remember you not only on Christmas Day but on every day as we interact with other people. Amen.