Christmas 'miracle' and bonds of love

She's calling it a “Christmas miracle.” I was eyewitness to her joy. She grabbed my hands at our lunch meet-up and said, “God is good. They're back. I can be a grandma now.”

My divorced friend lost her adult daughter — who had no children — several years ago. Then her son died six months ago. He had a young son with his live-in girlfriend who recently turned 5. He was also “stepfather” to her daughter, who is now 11. This past summer — with her son now gone — my friend was down to these two kids for primary family — and not allowed to see either one.

The story is a mess of miscommunication and misunderstanding. The children were removed from their home four years ago because the parents had drug and alcohol addiction. When Child Protective Services first came to check out the situation, the kids weren't there — they happened to be staying a night with my friend. CPS suddenly appeared on her doorstep — catching her by surprise — and she would not allow them in her home.

As soon as she returned the kids to their parents, they were taken away. A relative of the girlfriend — an older single woman — took over care of the children. She shut the door to any kind of relationship between my friend and the kids.

The outlook appeared bleak. When she lost her son, his young son was all she had of him. She was desperate to be in this little boy's life — to be a grandma to him. She was told she didn't have a chance.

Three days before our joyful lunch, she got a call. The children's stand-in “parent” — the older single woman — no longer wanted them. CPS had them back. They had sent letters to various family members trying to place the children. Only not to my friend. One person answered.

She was my friend's niece, who had her own three, but she and her husband were ready to take on two more. She called her aunt, inviting her for a spaghetti dinner and to spend time with her grandson and his half-sister. This boy, who is full of “acting out” because of all the instability in his life, proceeded to climb on his grandma's lap, cozy up and fall asleep — secure in her love.

Instead of being alone on Christmas, my friend will now stay Christmas Eve in her niece's home and wake to gift opening with a houseful of children, including her own grandson, who so reminds her of her son.

Her Christmas miracle happened. Her joy at our lunch was irrepressible. I have never seen her so happy. What was lost to her is now found. And that's just what Christmas is. Jesus — Emmanuel, “God with us” — came seeking lost people with broken lives so that He could repair them, save them and bring them into the family of God, where they will be loved.

It's a Christmas miracle called “being found.” A gift that lasts forever.