I was watching an old movie and something a young woman said in the movie brought back a Christmas memory. The young woman was from a very poor family. Her mother was praying to the Lord at Christmas asking for help as they had nothing. A rich man had squirreled away a lot of money in a floor board above where they lived and a squirrel lived behind it in the rafters.
He started dropping all the rich man's money from where it was hidden over the rafters and the praying woman began catching it. She had no idea what had happened but only that her prayer was answered. When the father came home there was a beautiful tree, presents and the daughter was setting the table with a turkey and trimmings and she said, ...see, turkey and trimmings and pudding and everything nice,... or something pretty much like that.
And it brought to recall a Christmas when my children were young and the Lord answered my prayer and needs for our Christmas and I said a very similar thing and my heart felt and my mouth exclaimed a very similar thing.
At that Christmas we knew the Lord and tried to serve Him as best we knew.
We were very poor. And at Christmas with three children and out shopping with my brother and his friend, who neither of them knew the Lord, and our money ran out quickly. After I met the Lord I didn't get mad often so the feelings I had were unusual. But as I stood there in the store and looking at the people shopping and getting things for their children something came up and out of me, which was not me and I looked at the people in the store and said,
"How is it that those who do not serve the Lord have enough for their children at Christmas and those who serve the Lord, don't?"
Or very similar.
And I heard a voice spoken in my ear,
"Go home and get your money."
And I said to my husband, " The Lord said to go home and get our money." The hardest thing was not believing that the Lord had spoken to go home and get the money for our Christmas, the hardest thing for me to do was get it out of my mouth and to speak it out loud in front of people who didn't know the Lord.
I am so glad that I did.
Because in my life and walk that is always the hardest thing to do.
But it is also the most wonderful thing to do.
Because when I do I see the Lord's miracles. So we said that we were going home and that the Lord had said to go home and get our money. That our Christmas money was at home.
We got in our car and on the way home to windy Sun Valley near Reno, NV. my husband and I were very excited.
We were so poor that five dollars was a lot, and ten was a lot, and twenty was a lot. But what about fifty! That was the highest amount we could think of at the time! It was so much to us! We said, ...something like this. What if....it is ten dollars? What if it is twenty dollars...What if it is fifty dollars!!
Could it be!
That was the most we could think of at that time in our lives and was a great deal of money to us. A dollar was a lot to us.
When we got home, on our porch in windy Sun Valley was an envelope.
It was a miracle that it was still there. and we knew it.
Inside was fifty dollars with the words written...
From Jesus.
I thank the Lord for this precious provision.
To care about us so much and to care about our needs and our kids at Christmas.
Thank You, Lord!!!We got the kids Christmas.  At our door that Christmas came everything we needed for our very special Christmas. Nuts and sweetbreads and everything that was special to me for them. More than I'd ever be able to get the kids, but was there from our Lord and nothing was left out. It was lovely. It was our very special Christmas from Jesus.
Everything that made a sweet special and warm Christmas time.
We didn't share our troubles with people and so we knew it was the Lord's doing.
And like the girl in the movie in my heart I could say we had the best Christmas ever with everything you could ever think of that made it warm and wonderful for us and our children, that I would want for them.
All the things that made Christmas so nice and homey and warm for my family that I personally wasn't able to give them.
Those special things that make a Christmas warm and dear.
And I knew in my heart that in our walk with the Lord Jesus in following Him, I'd never have to worry ever about my kids and holidays again and I never did.
They always had their needs met and more.
He cares about us all so very much.
I thank the Lord.
So very, very much!

My name is Kathleen Angell.  
My life was dramatically changed when the Lord made Himself real to me.  
We have an outreach to folks experiencing shelter and street life.  It is a great joy to us.