Read Online A Treasury of Christmas Miracles by Karen Kingsbury - Free Book Online Page A

play near them and smile at them, but she always remained an outsider.
    “What are we going to do, Evan?” a weary Susie complained one night. “I’ve tried to help her make friends with the other children,
     but she’s afraid to make an effort, afraid they won’t like her.”
    “Give it time, honey,” Evan said, sitting down at the table across from his wife. “She has a lot of adjusting to do, and she’s
     come so far in such a few years. She’ll have friends one day.”
    Susie was quiet for a moment. “Evan,” she finally said softly. “Have you prayed about it? I mean the friendship thing?”
    Evan looked sad as he answered. “Not really. I mean, of course I’ve prayed for Noel. I’ve prayed for her since the day she
     was born. But I haven’t really asked God to send her a special friend, if that’s what you mean.”
    Susie nodded. “Well, let’s do it. Let’s pray together and then let’s keep praying every day that God will love Noel enough
     to send her a special friend, if that’s what you mean.”
    Evan reached across the table and took Susie’s hands. Together they bowed their heads and prayed. Quietly, sincerely, they
     asked that Noel be watched over and cared for and that God would find it in his heart to give Noel a special friend.
    After that, Evan and Susie prayed daily for Noel and the friend she might one day have. Later that year Noel turned five and
     began attending a school for children with special needs. Academically she excelled far beyond her parents’ dreams, but she
     still struggled socially.
    One day she came home with her head high and, much as an adult would, asked her mother to sit with her on the couch and talk
     for a while.
    “I’m deaf, right, Mommy?” she signed.
    Susie paused a moment. They had dealt with Noel’s deafness since the day she was diagnosed, but they had never discussed with
     her exactly what made her different from other children. “Yes, honey.” Susie moved her hands gently, her eyes searching those
     of her daughter’s. “You were born without the ability to hear sound.”
    “And that makes me different, right, Mommy?” she asked.
    Susie sighed, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. “Yes, honey. Most children can hear sounds. But there are many children
     who were born deaf, just like you.”
    “Even though I’m deaf, I’m still smart and I’m still pretty, and I’m still special. Isn’t that right, Mommy?” Noel’s eyes
     shone as she asked the question, and Susie struggled to keep from crying. “And God still loves me, right?”
    “Of course, Noel. God loves you very much. You are very special and beautiful and very wonderful and being deaf will never
     change that.”
    Noel thought for a moment. Then her hands began to move once again. “It’s time for me to have a friend, Mommy. But I want
     a friend who’s deaf like me. Is that okay?”
    Susie pulled her daughter close and wrapped her arms around the child, stroking her silky dark curls. “I’ve been asking God
     to send you a special friend, Noel. Maybe that’s what he has in mind. A special friend who is deaf like you. We’ll just have
     to wait and see.”
    The year ran its course, and although Noel made more of an attempt with the other children than she had in the past, none
     of her classmates was deaf, and she finished her first year of school without a close friend. Her second year started much
     the same way and though they were discouraged, Evan and Susie continued to pray.
    Two months before Christmas, Noel stumbled upon a picture of a white Persian kitten, much like the one of her storybooks.
     She was immediately and completely enamored with the kitten and ran to show her mother the picture, her hands flying as she
     tried to explain herself.
    “Mommy, can I please have a kitten like that for Christmas? Please?” Noel was so animated that Susie had to calm her down
     before her daughter would show her the picture in the book.
    “That’s a