From: Shamim Hunt
To: Brittany Lewis and the Women of Redeemer Pres. Church
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:06 PM
Subject: My First Christmas

My First Christmas

I celebrated my first Christmas in 2000.  I mean that this was my first real Christmas, since it was the first Christmas after I had been baptized into Christ, which happened just six months earlier.  I celebrated my first Christmas alone in my home in Houston .  I was alone, even though all my family - parents, children and brothers - were all in Houston, because none of them are Christians.  I felt fortunate to celebrate Christmas as a Christian, even if I was alone.  I had a Bible and decided to spend some time reading it, which seemed to be a good thing to do as a Christian on that special day.  I had no tree or nativity or gifts, but God decided to give me a Christmas gift.  Through that Christmas gift he was going to bind me to himself and strengthen my infant faith.

The gift He gave to me was a Christian man who would soon be my husband, a man whom God loves dearly as a child.  I can see that this was God's gift, because I can see how much I have been blessed by God through my husband.  My husband's love for me tells me how much God loves me.  How can I be so sure that He is my Christmas gift from God?  Don't even atheists also find good spouses?  But God did not give me a spouse when I was an atheist, for He did not intend for me to remain an atheist.  When I was an atheist, God took everything from me.  But when I came to Christ, He gave everything to me when he gave his Alan to me.  And since God loved me this way, through the gift of my husband, so I can respond by loving and appreciating my husband.

Every Christmas I will have the best gift from God as I will be with my husband, Alan.  This is God's everlasting gift to me, for which I cannot thank Him enough.  My husband's loving care for me in leading me to God is a very obvious means for me to know how much God loves me.  Because of this gift, I know my sweet sisters at Redeemer - my new family.  Every Christmas, as we celebrate the joy of incarnation, Alan and I also celebrate the anniversary of our meeting, and we thank God for showing His love to us by bringing us together in such a surprising and wonderful way.  Christmas has a very special meaning to me.  It means a special day of God's special mercies to me.

Your sister in Christ,

Shamim Hunt