The Christmas Wish

A CHRISTMAS STORY FOR YOU! I am blessed to work for a day program for adults with disabilities. The week before Christmas, one of the individuals (I will call her Holly) told the nurse to, “Tell Jennie to find my sister Mary and tell her to come and visit me.” Now this statement was incredible on several levels. Holly is very structured and routined. She is not known for initiating a lot of conversations or using names. So for her to make a request and be so specific was amazing. I had known Holly for over 4 years. She lived in a residential facility and a few years ago had moved to a smaller setting with a few roommates. Although I knew she had someone named Mary in her past history from reading her file, I had never known anyone to have come to visit her. But if this was what she wanted, and she specifically wanted me to make it happen, I was going to try to figure it out. I made several calls from numbers I found in the file with no success. I called the place where she had lived before and they were not able to help. I prayed about it and that is where I received my answer. As I stared at the name of her sister I recognized the name from a different place I had seen it. My Facebook page! Could this person, that I was friends with on Facebook, be Holly’s sister? I stepped out on faith and sent a private message to this woman on Facebook asking her to call me. I’m sure she thought my request to call her was strange as I could not give her details in my message. I was so glad when she called. I asked her, “Do you know anyone by the name of Holly?” She replied, “This is a Christmas miracle! I have been looking for her!” You see Mary’s husband had become sick several years ago and she was unable to spend time with her sister as she had in the past. She said by the time she did get to go see her she had already moved to a different location and because of rules they were only able to give her a phone number which did not work. She had no way to find her! Two days later Mary showed up at my job with a bag full of presents for Holly. When I walked Holly into the room and she realized Mary was there she said, “My Christmas wish came true!” Holly and Mary visited for almost an hour and I heard Holly talking more than I ever have since I’ve known her. It was an amazing experience and a true Christmas miracle. Awhile ago, I had started something new on Facebook. If I had more than 40 friends in common with a female or more than 75 friends in common with a guy I figured that I knew that person somehow or that I should get to know them. I started reaching out and sending friend requests to people that I did not know personally. This is how I had my friendship with Mary on Facebook! I did not know her personally but she is the mother of one of my son’s friends from high school! If Holly had not asked for me specifically to find her sister it would not have happened. If it would not have been on my heart to expand my circle of friends on Facebook it would not have happened. God has a unique way of making things fall into place. Thank God that Holly and Mary’s Christmas wish to find each other came true! “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 I wonder how many people have trouble speaking out like Holly. I wonder how many people are celebrating this holiday alone. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give is the gift of friendship. Not a present but simply your presence. I ask you to step out of your comfort zone and expand your circle of friends too! It has been great meeting new people on Facebook and seeing their successes, learning from their experiences and praying for them through their struggles. You never know when that one little connection that you have with someone will lead to something that you couldn’t have ever imagined. God bless you and Merry Christmas!