I don't know how we could have made it, had it not been for the generosity of some caring people, otherwise, we would have not have had a Christmas ...

My husband, Mac, got hurt at his job and is still recovering three months later.  The accident happened back in September .  It looks like he won't be going back to work.

He has two fractured vertabrae in his back when he suffered a bad fall.  He was immediately admitted and put into traction.  He wound up having surgery because the nerves were pressing onto the spinal cord, causing numbness and extreme pain.

Mac is wearng a back brace; he will have to wear it for at least another month.  He's still in pain.  Mac has applied for Social Security disability, but we haven't heard anything from them just yet.  He is hobbling around on a walker.

Our oldest daughter, Kyerra, who is thirteen, had to have major dental surgery last month and is still on the mend.  That means more money out of pocket, money we don't have coming in, not since Mac got hurt.  We will have to cough up almost $1,000 to pay the dentist for Kyerra's surgery.  

Then Cayden, our six-year-old son, fell out of a tree and fractured his arm in three places.  He is currently sporting a big, bright-blue cast on his arm and still has at least five weeks to go before he can have it taken off.  More medical expense.

We are nearly three months behind on our rent, cable, van payment, and utilities.  The bill collectors have already started calling.  What part of "We don't have the money at this time!" don't these stupid morons understand????

We have applied to several social services (and churches) to see if they can help us in our time of need.

It's been like that since August, when Mac started the chain of events that have turned our lives upside down.  I know it isn't his fault that he got hurt, but I now truly understand the meaning behind the old saying of "When it rains, it pours!"  It truly does, except in our case, the rain storms have been severe.

It seemed our prayers were falling on deaf ears.

Then came yesterday.  Christmas.  

At seven in the morning, I was awakened by a knock at the door.   I answered it.  I was surprised to find a man and a woman there on the front porch.  Their arms were full of gifts.  The man explained that he had heard our story from friends of ours and he felt led by the Lord to come help us.  He said he had gone to the store last week to get presents for our family and then proceeded to wish us a very Merry Christmas.

As you can imagine, I cried at the news.

Then, a few hours later, after the kids had torn into their gifts, their problems were soon forgotten as they dived into them.  New toys, clothes, and more.  They shrieked joyously the entire time.  

I went back outside to thank the man ... but he had gone.  He was no longer there!

Around 11:00, another knock at the door.  This time my husband opened it.  A lady was on the porch.  She had a cooked turkey; a second lady who was with her had a bag full of food.  They wished us a Merry Christmas and told them the meal was on them.  The first woman then handed Mac ten crisp $100 bills.  The second told Mac our medical deductible had been taken care of, and so had our bills:  caught up.  Rent and utilities.

We were dumbfounded.  Who would do this?!?  And why us?

When Mac looked up from crying into his hands, to to thank the pair, he discovered that they were gone.  One minute, two women were on our porch; the next: seemingly vanished into thin air.  Not even footprints remained in the freshly fallen snow!

Miracles.  Angels?  Perhaps.  All we know:  answers to prayer.

We had a few hours of relative calm and quiet.  The children had fallen asleep amidst all their loot, huge smiles still plastered upon their sweet young faces; meanwhile, I started a fire in the fireplace and talked with Mac about what had materialized in our lives.  We ended up having Christmas after all.  

I just wish I knew who the people who had helped us were, so I could at least get an address and thank them for thinking of us in such a profound way.   

They had to have been: why would three people appear on our doorstep, bearing gifts, only to disappear a short time later??  There seemed to be no viable explanation.

God is truly in the miracle-making business, even on Christmas Day!  It was a Christmas we will remember for a very long time to come!