The Word is alive; It SPEAKS to me.
It has Feet, it RUNS for me.
It has Hands, it LAYS HOLD of me.”

–Martin Luther–

“The Fingerprints of God”

by Debbie Allen

I watched a movie on New Year’s Day that completely enraptured my heart! The movie was entitled, “Once Upon a Christmas Miracle.”  I’d seen this movie multiple times before…but that didn’t stop me from making it my first movie pick in the New Year! 
By the end of watching the movie this particular time…I recognized that it wasn’t just my love for Hallmark movies, or my own heart driving me to see it again, but God’s persistent Whispers compelling me to watch it just one more time; to dare to look deeper… see the storyline with fresh eyes and a heart open enough to receive the beautiful message I believe He had waiting there for me all along! 

“Once Upon a Christmas Miracle” is a true faith-filled story based upon the lives of a young couple, Heather Kruger and Chris Dempsey. Heather, a nursing student about to graduate, is diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. With time running out for her, doctors were desperate to find a liver for a transplant…but the liver needed to come from a live donor.

 Chris, a young veteran who hadn’t been home for Christmas for five years until now, was a total stranger to Heather. Taking a walk after work one day, he noticed her picture/plea for a liver donor on a community bulletin board.  After some consideration, he decided it’s the right thing for him to do, and off he goes to the hospital to have his liver tested for a total stranger. By the Grace of God…his liver is found to be a perfect match! After a micro-period of getting to know each other and their families…the day arrived for the actual liver transplant to take place.

After some pre-surgery prepping by nurses and doctors when they arrived at the hospital; Heather and Chris found themselves laying across from each other in separate hospital beds, awaiting their surgeries. In a moment of solemn reflection, Heather asks Chris if he’s scared at what’s about to happen to the both of them.

He answers honestly, telling her, “I’m a little scared, but everything’s going to be ok, Heather. It will all be fine.”

Heather, with fear in her eyes and a pounding heart, realizes the gravity of what this moment could mean for both of their lives. Panicking, she looks across at Chris. With tears welling up in her eyes she responds, “This is too much…how can I ask you to do this for me?”

Looking deep into her eyes, Chris reaches over and takes her trembling hand in his, answering her with a profound question of his own. “How can I not?” 

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“Looking deep into her eyes, Chris reaches over and takes her trembling hand in his, answering her with a profound question of his own. “How can I not?” 

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Hearing Chris’s words wrecked me that day. Spontaneous tears streamed down my face for several minutes after watching this scene again. In all the times I’d watched it before, I never had this same response. 

I couldn’t help but hear Jesus speaking to me in those words. I felt the weight of them in my own heart. The Fingerprints of Heaven were all over this moment! Though my eyes were seeing Heather laying broken and dying in the hospital bed across from Chris as he spoke his touching words to her…on the walls of my heart I was watching what could’ve been you or I…laying broken and dying, in a hospital bed across from Jesus.  He was holding our hand so tenderly, and asking, “How can I not?”  By now, my own heart was pounding, because I was beginning to understand the depth of the message that was hidden so deeply in this Hallmark scene.

Heather’s greatest need was a physical one. Our greatest need is a spiritual one, and all of humanity is infected with a terminal disease from birth on. The Great Physician calls this terminal disease ‘sin’. In other words, all of humanity is in dire need of a heart transplant.  We all need a new heart, but if Jesus isn’t in our story… we will die.

If only we would realize just how desperate our own diagnosis in life is, and the immensity of what it cost Jesus to give us our new heart. He is our Living Donor, and it’s only by the Grace of God, He freely offers Himself to become our One and Only Perfect Match! He’s ready, but we have to be willing to receive this greatest gift of love and life we will ever know.  A new heart and a new life. 

Look up and see the Hand of Jesus reaching out to you. Take His Hand. Don’t be afraid to trust Him. Allow Him to pull your gaze into His Eyes…two pools of Endless Grace beckoning you to come nearer and receive His gift of a new heart. Finally, listen…as your own heart’s Perfect Match whispers down into your soul four little words that wield the power to change your life both now and forevermore… “How Can I Not?”

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“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) ________________________________________________________________________________________

This Hallmark movie will continue to be an inspiration to me, not only because it bears the Fingerprints of Heaven all over it…but because it’s also a true story. It mirrors the beautiful reality of God’s Presence at work in our lives. It points our hearts towards true saving faith, hope, love and the possibility of miracles still happening all around us!  Take Chris and Heather, for instance. Their story didn’t end just because the movie ended. Chris and Heather ended up literally becoming a part of each other’s lives, after falling in love and getting married a year after the liver transplant. Ever Grateful to God, they still daily… share the joy and the beauty of being able to walk-out their true-life miracle together in real life!

My own desire in this next year is to take the spiritual gift of the new heart Jesus gave me as a little child, and continue walking hand-in-Hand with Him in my grown-up life, experiencing together the Love, Joy, and the Beauty of what Jesus sacrificed, so I could live-out my own True-Life-Miracle … walking in His Presence every day. It’s my highest joy and greatest honor in this life to bear the Fingerprints of Heaven all over me. When I consider the gift of 365 new days ahead of me to walk tuned to the Sounds of His Whispers in my spirit, and guided by His Perfect Love … “How can I not?”

HEART TRAPPINGS PRAYER:

Father God… Your calling on each of our lives challenges us, stretching us in ways we never saw coming. But it’s also true that Your Endless Love stretches from one end of eternity to the other, unbroken and unrelenting towards those you call your own. The Psalms reassure us of this truth… ‘Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of Your Loyal Love…’

Father, You are our soul’s celebration. I pray You help us to remember in this next year, the miracles of kindness You’ve done for us. Sustain and lead us forward with bold faith, and the kind of love that’s not afraid to trust the Heart of our soul’s One and Only Perfect Match… the same One Who’s calling us into the new beginnings that await us all.  We will bless and praise You, Lord, with our whole heart!

In Jesus Name we pray…Amen