My parents usually shopped at the last minute for Christmas gifts. This Christmas Eve was no different than those in prior years.

My mom always told of a beautiful little Tiny Tears doll that caught her eye, but the popular little doll with rooted hair and a pink dress was out of their price range. Mom looked through the picked-over toys but could not get away from the doll with a bottle, a change of diaper and a pink carrying case. With three brothers, I had very few opportunities to "play dolls", but she knew that I would love this little baby doll anyway.

As they shopped, looking frantically for a gift for each of us four kids, they could not get away from the peering eyes of the anxious store owner. I am sure he was looking forward to getting home to his own family celebration after a long day. Mom again picked up the pink clad doll, lightly touching her dainty fingers, knowing that they could not afford her. Whether out of frustration or kindness the keeper of this little store gave my mom an offer that she could not refuse. Since this doll was the last one and the eyes of Tiny Tears would not open and close as they were supposed to, he would sell it for a fraction of the original cost. The price "happened" to be right, so they packed up the defective doll with the rest of their treasures and came merrily home to wrap the gifts and put them under the tree.

I can still remember feeling the coarse hair of Tiny Tears against my cheek as I hugged this little rubber doll, now an antique. She drank from a small bottle and even cried real tears. But my mom always thought of her fondly as the "miracle" doll. You see, amazingly, her life-like, blue eyes miraculously began to open and close as I rocked her back and forth on my lap! My mother told everyone of God's miracle.

Everyone has their own idea of what miracles look like. They can come in diverse ways. The Bible, of course, has a multitude of examples, especially as we read in the first two chapters of Luke about the miracles that surrounded the birth of the baby Jesus. The birth of John the Baptist, whose parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were past childbearing age, was certainly a miracle. As with Zechariah, Gabriel, an angel sent by God, also visited the young girl, Mary, to announce another miracle: the virgin birth of the Son of God, the Messiah, our Redeemer.

Luke 1:31b-32a – You shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. (ESV)

Miracle of all miracles happened in the precious birth of the baby Jesus, born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.

Luke 1:37 – For nothing will be impossible with God. (ESV)

The story of my Tiny Tears doll could not compare with what is recorded in the beautiful story about the promised Messiah. But let our hearts fill with praise that sometimes the same God who delivered the good news of the coming baby Jesus, knows when we need our own miracle, as I am sure my dear mother did.

Prayer: Jesus, Mighty Miracle Maker, thank You for caring about even a weary mom and a little girl waiting for Christmas to come. Thank You for coming Yourself and for bringing us Christmas and our salvation! Amen.

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About the author:

Jeanie Nihiser <jnihiserj@gmail.com>
Geneseo, New York, USA
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