HomeWord - Dec. 24, 2007

Dan was born with a degenerative heart condition. This problem was in remission for most of his childhood and teen years. He lived a normal kid's life filled with friends, baseball, and drama. But in his junior year of high school, he had massive heart failure. By December 22, 1980 he had spent several months at Stanford Medical Center in what they call "Life Row." He was waiting for a heart transplant. On December 22 the hospital sent Dan home for Christmas expecting him to die before they could find a heart for him. But he was immediately rushed back to the hospital because they had a heart donor and, at age 17, Dan had a successful heart transplant operation. Three days later on Christmas day his Mom read Luke 2 while he was in recovery. Then she began to read the stacks of get-well cards from people all over the country who were praying for him. She pulled a card from the Midwest out of the pile and read this note to Dan:

Dear Dan,

Even though we do not know you, my husband and I feel so close to you and your family. Our only son Lloyd was your heart donor. Knowing that you have his heart has made our loss so much easier to bear. With all our love,

Paul and Barbara Chambers \

Dan wrote later about that experience:

I couldn't fight the tears any longer. And suddenly I knew more clearly than ever the real reason why I should be celebrating Christmas. In dying, the Chambers' only son had given me life. In dying, God's only Son had given life, eternal life. Now I felt like shouting out loud my thanks that Jesus Christ was born!

"Thank You, Lord!" I said. "And bless you," I said as I thought of the young man who had signed the donor card that gave me my greatest Christmas present of all, "Bless you, Lloyd Chambers."

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GOING DEEPER:

1. . If you were Dan, what would your response be to that letter?

2. What is the spiritual significance of today's devotional?

FURTHER READING :

PSALM OF PRAISE

Praise God with shouts of joy, all people! Sing to the glory of his name; offer him glorious praise! Say to God, "How wonderful are the things you do! Your power is so great that your enemies bow down in fear before you. Everyone on earth worships you; they sing praises to you, they sing praises to your name." Come and see what God has done, his wonderful acts among men. Psalm 66:1-5

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