December 24, 1992
By Isabel Morse Maresh
Bob and I took a trip this week to the mountains which brought memories flooding back of our past of a dream era of our lives. We remembered Christmases past. Being the parents of seven children, there were years when we wondered if there would be Christmas in the Maresh household.
We have deep religious faith. When one of us falters in our faith, the other will uplift. We know that "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform." I once told a man of the miracles in our life. His response was that he had never seen a miracle. We experience miracles every day of our lives.
One year when there was no money for extras, I earnestly wanted a turkey for Christmas. A relative brought a large frozen turkey that he had "found". Another year a niece whom we hadn't seen for a long time sent a turkey.
Then, in 1974, with six of the kids still at home, struggling with financial and personal problems, we heard of a "mission" in the White Mountains of New Hampshire looking for a sawyer to run a sawmill to saw out a cathedral atop one of the mountains. A plane was flown to Belfast to take Bob down for an interview and to look over the sawmill which needed much work.
We had moved into the farmhouse in Belmont with a hand pump in the kitchen, holes in the floors and roof, outdoor plumbing and made it a home. The job in New Hampshire came with housing and a commissary where food and luxury extras were available at a discount. We were not ready to yet leave the area where I'd lived all of my life, but the change looked good.
Because housing in the country was not readily available, we had to move into Mission-owned property on Main Street of the small town. I rebelled, thinking that I could only live in the country. Time proved me wrong. We moved into a 16-room house with two bathrooms, wall-to-wall carpeting, lawns mowed in the summer, and yard plowed in the winter.
When Christmas came, we went out to the 400-acre home of the Mission to cut a tree for our 10-foot living room. We put the tree in the front living room. It was beautiful. Before the day was over, the tree had warmed up and cupfuls of pitch began to drip. It didn't take us long to get it out and go off to find another.
We spent two happy Christmases in the house on Main Street. When the job was done, the cathedral built, and time to come home, we priced the cost of a U-haul truck to bring us home to Belmont. The cost was $140. We didn't have the money, nor any way to get it. While were pondering and praying about the move, an unexpected insurance check came in the mail for, would you believe it, $140! Another one of our many miracles.
It doesn't have to be Christmas to experience a miracle, but the miracle of the first Christmas, the birth of the Christ-child in a manger is the greatest miracle of all. A merry, merry Christmas to one and all.
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