If you are like me you have spent at least a moment or two of this very busy season watching a Christmas movie. While the grandkids were over we watched the old Rudolph movie narrated by the legendary Burl Ives. One night during a much needed downtime we sat in our recliners to watch a feel good, restore hope in humanity and family Christmas movie. By Netflix we were saturated with options; white Christmas, blue Christmas; lost Christmas, found Christmas; home for Christmas, alone for Christmas; Christmas past, Christmas future. After scrolling through the titles we randomly chose one entitled "Christmas Angels".
I guess for me the attraction to Christmas cinema is the happy ending. I'm a sucker for a happy ending even if it is predictably sappy.
Christmas Angels definitely fit the bill; a family in turmoil and jeopardy of splitting up, unhappy marriage, workaholic dad, fussing children, mom trying to bridge the gaps. They take a Christmas trip to a mountain cabin to reconnect but find the cabin can not fix any of their issues. Suddenly as they are about to lose all hope a family stranded by a snow storm appears at their door. Of course they invite them into their warm cabin. Long story short, who rescued who? Happy ending with a twist, the stranded family had been in a car wreck on the mountains edge and were dead but glamorized to be Angels. Thus the title Christmas Angels.
It was a cute story and I enjoyed sitting still while it played as much as I enjoyed the storyline.
In reality our lives are not always as Hallmark as a Christmas flic. We run nonstop through the holiday season. Like OJ Simpson in the airport we approach hurdles and obstacles full speed. Jumping and dodging, we try to be everything to everyone, provide the best Christmas experience, replay the favorite childhood Christmas, buy the best gifts, try new recipes, attend parties with friends, programs at church, and recitals at school. It can be stressful. Then add logistics. I need to be every where for everyone. I can't get to point A from point B because I need to stop by point c by noon. Juggling the hours of the post office, the mall, the appointments, the groceries in the backseat plus I still need to get to work on time. Stressful doesn't seem like a strong enough word.
Then one Sunday afternoon just before Christmas while we are trying to get to CVS to pick up a script a 1990 Mercedes in front of us starts billowing white smoke from under the hood. The car pulls quickly to the shoulder of the road. We turn around on the highway to assist.
It's a young man, mid 20's, with no real mechanical know how and a broken thermostat housing. It's not likely that the small town we are headed to will have the part in stock but we offer to give him a ride into town to see. It's the small town thing to do, right?
About Andrew: he is 25 and a graduate ofUniversity of Texas. He majored in government and worked for Ted Cruzs office on the day that Cruz announced his candidacy for US president. He lived In Houston was headed to St. Louis to meet a friend before heading to Baltimore, or was it Boston, to visit with the friends mother. Then back to St. Louis before heading to Wisconsin to spend Christmas with his parents. He dad was a Pentecostal preacher in Wisconsin but he pastored a church Dalhart, Texas for many years and that is where Andrew and his sisters grew up. He recently started a web design company and didn't have a credit card to his name. He played guitar, mostly jazz, but his sisters both played piano. He bought the 1990 E-190 Mercedes with only 75,000 miles on it and had made the cross country trek before. He dreaded calling his father to let him know he was stranded and gave the impression that an "I told you so" or "what were you thinking?" Speech was likely to be coming down the pipes.
As Andrew first climbed in the back of my car he noted the King James Bible laying beside him on the seat. He commented on it and asked that guy I live with if he was a pastor. It seemed like an odd question at first and we were unsure if he asked because he was offended or comforted by the bible. He then explained he was a pastors son and very familiar. It seemed that he thought that the only people that would travel with a bible in their cars were pastors. Not the case. We often leave the church with the bible in the backseat and leave it there all day or more.
I could seriously bore you with all of the details but in short, Carthage Texas didn't have the thermostat housing in stock but they found some type of compound to possibly patch the hole to get him a little farther down the road. They applied the compound but it needed to set up for an hour. In the meantime we needed to get church so we took Andrew along. He came to our home a good 20 miles from where his car was before we started to church. A polite young man that stood to shake hands with my son and my mother; a polite young stranger we had picked up on the side of the road.
Hallmark writes best selling movies about this and I told him so. I explained the recent Christmas movie and inquired about his life status, "you're not dead are you?"
The Mercedes could not be fixed that night but was driven into the local shop. He talked about renting a car to continue his journey, staying in a hotel until he could get the part for the car or have the car looked at.
A quick text from Stacey indicated that Andrew would be staying the night with us. At this point I'm sure you are less concerned with the status of the car, the repairs, and the friend Andrew was to meet in St. Louis. You are likely rereading that to make sure you understood correctly. Yes, you read that correctly. I said we picked up a 25 year old stranger on the side of the road, gave him a ride, fed him, took him to church, back to town, and to our house where he stayed the night.
Are we crazy? Pause here and let's think about the answer to that before we spit it into cyber eternity. What kind of crazy are we talking about? Don't get me wrong. I'm not telling you all of this to impress you or make myself and my family seem like super heroes. I just need to type it out so that it can be real. Maybe we are crazy. If one if my sons told me he was going to a perfect strangers house to spend the night because his car broke down I might be less than comfortable.
What Andrew brought to the Christmas season:
1. A distraction. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in me, my problems, my failures; what ifs and how comes ooze from my soul like snot from a two year old in the springtime. It's not pretty. It's not healthy. I needed to take a step back, refocus, breath in and breath out with true appreciation for the abundance I have.
2. A detour. There are many paths we can take to get to where we are going. All roads may lead to Rome but "there's a million ways to get to San Antoine" (Michael Hearne). The problem isn't finding a way, it's finding the right way. And it's not finding the right way in hindsight but projecting the outcomes and predicting the failures, charting a course. And yes, making a U turn, rerouting or taking a detour when things don't seem to be working out the right way.
3. A decision. There is no way to say this nicely so I will just apologize in advance. That guy I live with has never been assertive or decisive or bold in his decisions. This is not a new development and I don't really consider it a failure. It's a personality trait. It's part of what makes him who he is. I don't look at it as a fault, anymore, though I did for years. I now know that we all have weaknesses and character traits that others don't like or can't explain. I finally decided that it is this marginally weak trait is what allows him to excel at so many other things. Never once during the 24 hours we had Andrew in our company did I have to say, "should we stop?" "What do we do with him now?" "will he be staying the night?" Without arrogance or pride but with confidence that guy I live with stepped up.
You may not see this in a Hallmark Christmas movie next year but if you ever meet Andrew I hope he leaves you feeling blessed!
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