Posted by
John Crutchfield on Thursday, January 15, 2009 9:47:40 AM
The Christmas season was upon us in the year of 1993. We were three years into a terrible economic downturn. The real estate markets were suffering the effects of a bursting bubble and banks and lending institutions around the country were folding their tents. People everywhere found themselves upside down with home and business mortgages. Businesses where closing at an alarming rate, leaving those depending on them in a very bad way. I was one of them.
My business had lost two of our biggest clients that had been around for decades. One had been in business for nearly fifty years, the other, one hundred. It couldn't have come at a worse time. My wife and I had just leveraged our home against a commercial venture that was supposed to build a better life and add to our future retirement portfolio. We bought land and put up a nice new building where I could apply my skills and become established, so to speak. With the loss of those two customers, it was all in peril.
If this has never happened to you, consider yourself blessed. My days were filled with stress and my nights were filled with dread for the next day. Every day I went to work hoping that would be the day it would all turn around. By the end of the day, I knew that wouldn't happen and all I had to hope for was tomorrow. But tomorrow wouldn't be the day either. A feeling of hopelessnes began to take over and I was in a deep depression.
A great friend of mine recently pointed out that men tend to evaluate themselves based on what they are able to provide. His words were right on and reminded me of what I felt when I was drowning in debt and unable to keep up. Certainly, I was unable to provide much and my self esteem was suffering from it. Indeed, my world was crumbling before my eyes and there was no part of my life that wasn't reeling from the effects of that economic meltdown. Business and personal relationships were strained and sadly, even my relationship with God was effected by this three year war that had all but sucked the life out of me. It was a very dark time when even a trip to the mailbox only brought more pain. Until one day...
A couple of days before Christmas we received a card in the mail from someone who would change my life. The card was from the mother of a little boy who's story we had read months before in the local paper. It was a great human interest story of how this beautiful little four year old had been diagnosed with leukemia, which was then in remission after months of chemo-therapy. In the article, the mother was giving all honor and glory to God for the miracle of her son's recovery. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by the secular movement that seemed to be gaining traction in the public square. There she was, out front witnessing for God right there on the front page of the newspaper!
I had found the story a refreshing change from all the bad news that typically dominates the headlines and was moved to write a letter to the editor thanking the paper for printing the story and praising the boy's mother for her testimony. Tyler's mother, Donna, had seen my letter and sent this Christmas greeting to thank me for it. With the card, she included a picture of Tyler and his sister, Jenna and added a little more information about what the family had gone through.
I was floored that she would go to such lengths to thank a total stranger for doing something that only seemed natural to me. But this wasn't your typical "thank you" note. This woman, who obviously knew God well, spoke in the language of the saints and her love for Him radiated from the page. It may seem silly, but it felt as though I had received a Christmas card from Jesus, Himself. A light had come on and yours truly was suddenly wondering how I could have been so blind.
In the midst of my misery and self pitty, I had overlooked God's greatest gifts. Certainly, my problems were nothing compared to Donna's. I had been blessed with a wonderful wife and healthy children and my ungrateful attitude was brought into crystal clear focus through her gracious message. She had, perhaps unknowingly, become an instrument of the Lord. Though I was lost, He found me. He pulled me from the depths of depression with a life ring that came in the mail.
To be continued..........