CMO 103: "The Christmas Joshua Found Again"

 

Today's Facebook Post:

Christmas Day is three days away not counting today. Come, sweet Jesus!

Dentist says I need a crown. Yep! That is what I wanted for Christmas. Not!

Throwback: I have been enjoying watching reruns of “Emergency” (1972-1977).

God said, “Let there be light!” And then He loved YOU into existence.

Birthday quote from a friend: "Age is merely the number of years the world has been enjoying you. Cheers!" My birthday is December 28th.

It’s too warm to feel like Christmas! At least here in Oklahoma.

What do you get when you stop believing in Santa Claus?

Which secular Christmas movie do you enjoy most? Home Alone I and II.

Which faith-based Christmas move to you enjoy most? The Nativity.

A Short Story ...

🌟 The Christmas Joshua Found Again 🌟

Joshua was only eight years old when Christmas stopped being Christmas.

The night his parents passed — a Christmas Eve wrapped in sorrow — the world seemed to lose its color. Snow still fell. Lights still twinkled. Carols still drifted through the air. But for Joshua, everything felt hollow.

He was taken to St. Brigid’s Home for Children, a place filled with kind faces and warm meals, but even kindness couldn’t thaw the cold ache inside him.

Every December, the other children grew excited. They decorated the tree, baked cookies, and sang carols. Joshua stayed in his room, staring out the window at the falling snow, refusing to join.

He didn’t hate Christmas. He just didn’t believe in it anymore.

A Story He Had Never Heard Before

One snowy afternoon, Sister Miriam — gentle, silver‑haired, and patient — found Joshua sitting alone in the chapel.

“Would you like to help me set up the nativity?” she asked.

Joshua shook his head. “Christmas isn’t real. Not for me.”

Sister Miriam didn’t argue. She simply sat beside him and opened a small, worn Bible.

“Then let me tell you a story,” she said softly. “A story about a child who understands what it means to feel alone.”

Joshua didn’t move, but he didn’t leave either.

She told him about a young mother and a quiet carpenter traveling far from home… About a stable filled with straw because there was no room anywhere else… About a baby born into poverty, wrapped in cloth, and laid in a manger… About angels singing over shepherds who had nothing to offer but their wonder… About a God who chose to come small, fragile, and humble — so no one would ever feel too broken or too lost to be loved.

Joshua listened. Really listened.

For the first time in years, something warm flickered inside him.

A Child Who Understood

Sister Miriam closed the Bible and looked at him gently.

“Joshua,” she said, “Jesus came as a child so He could be close to children. He came into a world that wasn’t ready for Him, into a night that wasn’t gentle. He came for the lonely. For the hurting. For those who felt forgotten.”

Joshua swallowed hard. “Even… even for someone like me?”

“Especially for someone like you.”

The warmth inside him grew — small, but steady. Like a candle lit in a dark room.

The Night Everything Changed

That Christmas Eve, Joshua did something he hadn’t done since he lost his parents.

He walked into the chapel.

The nativity scene was glowing softly. The manger was empty, waiting for the figure of the Christ Child to be placed there at midnight.

Joshua knelt beside it.

“Hi,” he whispered awkwardly. “I… I don’t know how to do this. But Sister Miriam said You came for kids like me. So… if You want… You can come into my heart too.”

It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t poetic. But it was real.

And in that quiet moment, Joshua felt something he hadn’t felt in years — peace that didn’t make sense, hope that didn’t hurt, and love that felt like home.

When the Christ Child statue was placed in the manger later that night, Joshua smiled.

For the first time since he became an orphan, Christmas felt like Christmas again.

A New Beginning

From that day on, Joshua didn’t just believe in Christmas — he cherished it. Not because of presents. Not because of lights. But because he had discovered the heart of it:

A child who came to love him. A Savior who came to find him. A story that made him whole again.

And every Christmas Eve after that, Joshua placed the tiny figure of baby Jesus into the manger with his own hands — whispering a thank‑You that came straight from the place where his heart had healed.