DailySusan Humor Blog

SUNDAY: Radiant Beams

A FATHER'S EXTRAVAGANCE

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
-- Ephesians 3:20

One Christmas Dad gave Mom a shiny, new garbage can.

It went over like a lead balloon. I mean, we all knew the old one was banged up and disreputable. But this was Christmas.

''See if the lid works,'' Dad suggested.

She did, getting ready to El Kabong him with it. But she didn't. Because . . .

. . . INSIDE WAS A FULL-LENGTH MINK COAT!!!

Now, THAT was CHRISTMAS!!!

I remember reveling in the extravagance. Mom looked so happy. It was beyond her wildest dreams. Dad went from the doghouse to the pinnacle, and we kids were all elated.

You just get so filled with joy when a father goes all out to show his love.

That's why I'm not surprised about what’s been happening lately to a friend of mine who has just been through a rough time. She's Nebraska's leading lady of Christian activism, head of Nebraska Right to Life, and a wonderful wife and mother, Julie Schmit-Albin of Lincoln.

Bottom line: about this time last year, she did the right thing and got hammered for it.

It goes like this: she had been receiving emails from a disgruntled Planned Parenthood clinic manager that contended there were health violations going on inside the clinic. She turned them over to the State of Nebraska, and the allegations proved true. The clinic was put on probation.

But because the man who leaked the information wasn't supposed to have access to the internal emails, both of them got in big trouble. They were charged with felonies.

Her computer was confiscated. She was fingerprinted and mugshotted. Her name was on CNN. Her kids and their classmates saw her all over the local media. She faced a possible five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

She didn't know he was doing anything wrong by sending those emails. All she wanted to do was to protect women's health. It was all so badly misinterpreted. She felt like people were wiping the floor with her heart. It really was the pits.

Ultimately, though, it worked out OK. She did 60 hours of community service making blankets for Project Linus in a pretrial diversion program, a route she chose to bring peace to her family life.

Look what has happened to her since:

-- She won not one, not two, but three door prizes at the National Right to Life convention in St. Louis in July.

-- Upon her return home, she learned she won the only free makeover in a drawing at her hair salon: a perm, pedicure, manicure, the works.

-- She bought the winning raffle ticket at her church festival in October. Grand prize: $2,000.

-- She won $50 at an antiques store drawing in Lincoln's Haymarket.

-- The White House called to invite her personally to the Nov. 5 ceremony when the President signed the ban on partial-birth abortion, an important slice of history in the ongoing battle over the sanctity of life, her life's calling.

-- And last but not least, hers was the winning entry out of hundreds of thousands in a national Sun-Mart drawing sponsored by Nash-Finch Co./Coca-Cola. She won free airline tickets for four to New Orleans, complete with French Quarter hotel accommodations for three nights, tickets to the Sugar Bowl, and $500 cash.

Julie says she has never won anything in her life until these last few months. These prizes have blessed her beyond her wildest dreams. She feels enveloped in love and reassurance.

That's what it’s like to be a Christian: you stay faithful to the Lord, and you hang in there. You can feel the power of that love and you know that, eventually, you are going to be blessed.

Outrageously, audaciously, extravagantly so.

Because that's God’s nature. That's the whole idea of Christmas. It was just so extravagant. The gift of the Christ child is like a surprise mink coat: outrageously, audaciously wrapping us all in the unexpected grace of the manger and the cross, and the incomparable love and glory of Jesus Christ.

So maybe you won't get a mink coat, a $2,000 raffle prize or a trip for four to the Sugar Bowl this Christmas.

But if you've got Jesus, you've got it all.

There's no gift more extravagant. Isn't it wonderful?

You just get so filled with joy when a Father goes all out to show His love. Amen, and Merry Christmas!