EVERYTHING IS RUINED!

I had so many big plans for Christmas this month, and now everything is absolutely ruined. I’m so upset, I can’t even begin to put into words how crazy mad I am. All of our presents have literally been stolen off of our doorstep just like 2013. Nothing has been going right this month – NOTHING – and this whole stolen presents thing just tops it all off, and NOT in a good way. I am so infuriated right now. Christmas is in less than a week, and it is already absolutely ruined.

I AM SO MAD!!!

Nobody else in the world knows how I feel right now. Like, you can’t even believe everything I’ve been through this month to make Christmas special for my family and friends. Not only have I spent a lot of time and money on presents, everyone else has had their presents that they ordered stolen, too. Literally – every present ordered is gone. What kind of backwards crook would do something so absolutely mean? I mean, it’s Christmas. How can you even think of stealing presents that don’t belong to you? Around CHRISTMASTIME?! Now everything is totally ruined – everything I’ve worked for and have tried to make special this year is RUINED.

ABSOLUTELY RUINED.

R-U-I-N-E-D, RUINED.

I don’t know if you know how it feels to have everything you’ve worked so hard on to be destroyed like this, but if you have, this is about a hundred million times worse. Christmas is a special time – the presents, the cocoa, the Christmas spirit… it only happens once a year, and I want to make it as special as I can for my family and friends. All month I’ve been working harder than ever on presents and decorations and activities… Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, and now, all because of this whole stolen present shebang, IT’S RUINED!!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

… It’s Molly here.

If you can’t tell, I am MAD. The presents are literally missing, and try as I might to make this holiday season special for everyone – my friends and family means so much – all of my efforts have been in vain!

*takes a deep breath* Whew. Now that I’ve got my anger out, I feel… sad. I tried so hard to make Christmas special for everyone, but it was for naught. Can you even comprehend how absolutely demoralized I feel right now?

It’s times like these I wish I could cry, but if I did that, I’m sure my sisters or friends would get annoyed at me for being immature about no presents.

But they just don’t understand!

*chokes back sob*

No one does!

I hear someone climb up onto the porch railing beside me, and I whirl around to see who it is after swiping my eyes. Sniffling, I ask, “What do you want, Jasmine? Can’t you see I wanted to get away from the craziness inside?”

“I noticed you stormed off all upset,” Jasmine tells me softly. “I wanted to see what was wrong.”

My eyebrows raise. This is the sweetest, most genuine thing Jasmine has ever said to me in my entire life. We usually always butt heads or argue. This is a side I’ve never seen in her.

I swallow the lump in my throat before telling her, “I’m just upset about our presents being stolen again. It’s not fair. I’ve been working hard all month to make Christmas special, and right when the present packages are delivered, they’re stolen.”

“I’m disappointed about the presents, too,” Jasmine tells me honestly. Her eyes seem so transparent and caring; I’ve never seen her like this… ever. “But I’m not too heartbroken. It’s not the end of the world.”

“What would you know about not being too heartbroken about the stolen presents? I figured you’d be one of the most upset of all! No offense, but…” I hesitate, unsure of what to say without causing an argument. “You’re just the teensiest bit snobby.”

To my surprise, Jasmine giggles. “The teensiest bit? I’m sure I’ve been way more snobby than that!”

I can’t help but giggle with her. “Honestly,” I share, feeling more open and close to her than ever before. “Sometime it seems like all you care about in this whole word is yourself.” The moment I say it, I know I have gone too far. Jasmine just nods sadly.

“I know,” she mutters quietly in shame, looking down at her feet. “I’m really sorry for how I can be sometimes.”

“I’m sorry, too,” I blurt out quickly, and Jasmine looks up with a hopeful smile. “It doesn’t really seem like that. I just figured that you’d have a dramatic fit over the stolen presents.”

At this, we both burst out laughing. “In the past, I would have,” she gasps for air after our guffawing session. “But that all changed in 2013.”

“What happened in 2013?” I ask curiously.

Jasmine’s face lights up in a smile. “Something way more important than what I unwrapped on Christmas day.

“You hear this one a lot,” Jazzy continues. “‘Christmas isn’t about getting gifts.’ But I disagree.”

I gape at her in shock. “Let me finish,” she chuckles. “Christmas is about receiving the greatest gift ever – Jesus.”

I look away uncomfortably. “Yeah, yeah, I know the Christmas story. I’ve heard it a billion times,” I tried not to roll my eyes. “Christmas isn’t about earthly presents; I sound pretty selfish right now, I know. It’s about sweet baby Jesus.”

“‘Sweet baby Jesus?'” Jasmine guffaws. “‘Sweet baby Jesus’ nothing! Jesus isn’t a baby lying in a manger anymore.”

“But isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Jesus coming to earth as a baby?” I argue.

“That’s where people get confused,” Jasmine explains patiently. “You can sing ‘Away in a Manger’ all you want, and that might remind people that Jesus came to earth as a baby, but Jesus isn’t a baby anymore. You see, in 2013, I knew the Christmas story already; and indeed, it was just a story to me. But something happened, Molly; I realized how relevant Jesus is to us today.”

I shrugged, not really getting her point.

“The manger was Jesus’ first destination. But He didn’t stay there. He was on a mission, Molls! He had to get to Calvary, the grave, and then finally the Resurrection. Christmas Eve of 2013 was when I realized that we celebrate Christmas in light of the fact that Jesus did come to earth. That’s when I accepted Him into my heart, Molly!” When I turn to look at her, I realize that Jasmine’s eyes are shiny and wet with tears. She clears her throat before continuing, “Now, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.”

“Interceding?” I ask.

“Praying,” Jazzy defines. “And Molly, when we’ve got Jesus Christ Himself praying for us, that tells me something.”

“What?”

Jasmine smiles at me as she places her hand on my shoulder. “When we’ve got Jesus Christ Himself praying for us, that tells me we’re gonna make it.

“Jesus isn’t oblivious to the fact that you worked hard to be a blessing to your family and friends. We’re blessed to be a blessing, and God wants to make sure you’re able to do just that in the exact way He plans. He isn’t oblivious to the fact that our presents were stolen, Molly. We’re Believers; you know what Believers do?”

“Umm… what?”

“Believers believe,” Jasmine grins. “It’s as simple as that. God has never failed us, not once, Molly. In 2013, our presents were stolen, just like this year – do you remember that?”

“How could I forget?” I chortle. It had been a Christmas miracle (click to see the full-length stopmotion production and true story!).

“Well, remember when you, Josefina, and Cécile prayed and believed and thanked God that He would provide the presents for us?”

I nod, it all coming back to me now. “I do.”

“And He did. God coming through for us all, even when it looked like Christmas was going to be ruined, and the faith you all had to believe God – that changed me, Molly. The entire Delightful World of Dolls family witnessed that miracle in that video. And that’s the Christmas I became a Believer.”

I look away, unable to believe I have forgotten what happened in 2013.

“God never changes, Molly,” Jazzy smiles. “If He came through once, He’ll do it again. We’re Believers, and Believers believe. Because Jesus is the greatest gift of all, and He is what we celebrate this Christmas – not Him being a baby, but that He came, what He did on earth for us, and how relevant He is to our lives today – He made it possible to believe on Him. And He wants us to have an abundant life, overflowing to the fullest!

“What do you say, Molls?” Jaz questions as I look her in the eyes again. “God gave us the most amazing gift ever. And now we get the privilege of believing in the other great things He has for us in this life. What do you say we believe that He’ll come through for us again?”

I nod, slowly at first, and then more vigorously. I wrap my arms around her in a tight hug.

“Thank you, Jasmine,” I thank her sincerely. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, Molly,” Jaz tells me, squeezing me back. “You’ve encouraged me to believe so many times. I want to do the same for you, too.”

“I’m ready to believe God for anything,” I announce as we pull away from the embrace. “He’s bigger than everything, and He loves blessing me as I bless others.”

“You got it, Molls!” Jasmine laughs. “Christmas isn’t ruined. God will provide. He always does.”

As if on cue, we hear someone come running up to us at rapid speed. “Molly! Jasmine! Help me!” someone screams.

We both spin around, eyes widening and hearts thumping.

Chloe is sprinting toward us, gasping for air. “I’m about to catch the thief,” she pants desperately. “The very one who’s been stealing our presents! I need your help right now!“

… in the post, “Christmas Isn’t Ruined.” Check back on December 23rd to see who the thief is and what takes place.

P.S. Jesus didn’t really die for dolls. Guess what happened instead?

If you enjoyed this, let me know! Just hit “like” and leave a comment below!