On the eve of Christmas Eve, you'll hear a "Best of" conversation about what warms listeners' hearts. It was an impromptu discussion in 2023 at the Radio Backyard Fence, but the response from listeners was joyful and revealing. Hear encouragement for your soul as you look for glimpses of God in the ordinary. What warms your heart? Hear it on Chris Fabry Live.
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Oh, this is going to be good. On the Monday before Christmas, the eve of Christmas Eve, you and I are going to have a warm heart today because of a conversation we had a little over a year ago. We had a situation where a guest canceled pretty much last minute, and I needed to present something to you. And did you come through? Oh, you surely did. And what you're going to hear today is an answer to the question, what warms your heart? I got the idea from something I saw on a football field that moved me and moved others, and it looks like from the response that we had back then, this question really hit you deeply. What warms your heart? And as you listen here this year, Even though we're not taking your phone calls, you can go to Facebook and you can answer that question what warms your heart and what does that mean? What does it mean to have your heart warmed? Is it just a sentimental feeling? I think it's more so. The topic on today's broadcast on this eve of Christmas Eve is really simple. What warms your heart? What have you seen lately or what memory has surfaced? Especially this close to Christmas that has warmed you? I knew we were on to something. When? About 40 minutes before we went on the air, I posted this question on Facebook and one of the first responses was from Tammy, I want you to hear what she said. I worked the weekend night shift in an all female, intellectually disabled residential group home, and one particular morning, one of the ladies knelt down in front of her chair in the common area and prayed for my coworker whose sister had passed away. If that doesn't warm your heart, I don't know what will. So don't call us. Our program is recorded, but I do want to thank Ryan and Tricia for their work behind the scenes. I also want to thank you if you are a supporter of this program. If you go to Chris Fabry live.org and scroll down, you'll see how you can support us here toward the end of the year. Boy, December is a really important month for us, and I sure do appreciate the friends and the partners who come alongside us and give a one time gift or a monthly gift. The thank you this month, if you haven't heard, is how to finish the Christian Life. There are so many people who are either at the midpoint of their life or over, you know, late 30s, early 40s or older. And there are so many big questions. Doctor George Sweeting and Doctor Don Sweeting put together this book a few years ago, How to finish the Christian life following Jesus in the second half. It's our thank you. Right now, if you give a gift to Chris Fabry live call 86695 Faberry. Or if it's easier, it probably would be easier for those answering the phone to just go to the website. Chris Fabry live.org Chris Fabry live.org and thank you for your support at the radio backyard fence. I wasn't able to get to these Facebook posts last year, I don't think. And here are a few of them. Paul says I drive a truck and every now and again I see a kid as he motions me to honk my air horn. The smile that goes across that child's face when I do it absolutely warms my heart, Lisa says, counting my blessings daily in a written journal, which I call Daily Joys, and asking God for a word of the day makes thanking God easier and my attention to be focused on the positive. Spending time with God, my husband, children and pets always warms my heart. Jim and Karla colored Christmas tree lights and my husband, who knows I don't like white lights, so he puts on the colored lights on the tree that came with white. Karla. Thank you, Lori says, remembering my dad, who recently passed away with dementia as he sat in his wheelchair in front of the Christmas tree, lightly humming, partially singing the Christmas hymns and songs as they played. I can still see it so vividly, such a sweet memory as he seemed to connect with reality for a brief time. It was our last Christmas together before he passed away early January 2021. This is a cherished memory that brings a smile and warms my heart. Daniel says, walking into a local coffee shop and seeing an older generation person investing into a younger person. Whether it's an older lady investing conversations into a college student, or older guy talking to a young man, it warmed my heart to finally meet my nephew's three year old and almost one year old son's last night, watching the magic in their eyes as they caught their first glimpse of fireworks at the tree lighting ceremony on the town square. I was reminded to take childlike delight in the simple things we old folks take for granted. Those are a few of the responses we didn't get to last year. I wanted to read them to you here. Let's get started with where this idea came from. I was at a big hardware store this week. Christmas decorations up at the front. You walk in the door and you turn to the left. The returns are to the right, The Christmas stuff is to the left late in the evening. I saw this man and woman near the artificial trees and it just in, you know, the cursory look at them. Here's what I saw. It looked to me like the man had just gotten off work. He could have worked at the at that store, but it looked like from what he was wearing that he worked outside. So he probably wasn't a lawyer or a heart surgeon. You know, he he's a guy who works with his hands and his wife. Now, I don't I assume that they were married. I didn't get all of their history and didn't ask them for their wedding, you know, pictures and their license, but I assume it was his wife. And they were up front looking at the trees, and she was bent down looking at the prices and frowning, which was the same thing I was doing. But this is not about me. This is about her. And so I catch little bits of what they're saying about this or that or the other thing, and he says, but this is the one you want, isn't it? And she says, oh, it's just too much money. And he comes back and he says, but this is the one you want, right? And without missing a beat, he says, so get this one. As if you know the money is important, but it's only once a year, you know. It was and I, I watched that, I watched that exchange. It was the same thing that happened. One of my sons had a birthday yesterday. And his mother, my wife, bought him a couple of pairs of shorts and a shirt, and he was so excited about them. And they talked about this brand and why he likes it, and why my wife had talked with two guys at the gym who said, oh, he'll love this because of this and that. And, you know, the compression this and I don't know, but to know somebody that well, to be able to get something that you can tell they were really excited about to to have a connection with someone where you know them warms my heart. Just like the man with his wife and the Christmas tree that he knew. This is the one you want, right? This is. Let's do this. Come on. What warms your heart? W w y h. That's our program today. Cindy is in the great state of Florida. Hi, Cindy. Why did you call today?
Hi, Chris. We are on the same page with our thoughts. I was telling the young lady, it warms my heart to see a man just be tender with his wife. I mean, just a touch. And you see those eyes meet and you know that. You know. You know, this is my woman and I love her. And it's so.
Precious and love language. You know, there's the love language right there, Cindy. You know what? The same thing happens with me. It happened to me the other day. I was driving, and next to me was, I assume it was a dad, and like, 2 or 3 sons and the sons were laughing and one was, you know, motioning something, you could tell they were talking about something. And here was this young dad just having having a conversation with them and engaging with them. That warms my heart. And to and for the. It's a gift to be able to see that kind of thing, isn't it?
And to have it.
Yeah. Yes. Amen. I'm glad you called, Cindy. You got us started here. What warms your heart, Jennifer in West Chicago, Illinois. What's your answer? Jennifer?
Hi, Chris. Thank you so much for having me on. Um, there are two things that warm my heart. Yesterday, when I listened to your program, my favorite pastor in the world was talking to you, Pastor Kerry Schmidt. That's one thing that warms my heart, is hearing his voice. And then the other one is today. I was so blessed to be able to go sit and meet a new lady who's in her 70s, and she shared her story of how the Lord pursued her for years and years and years, and she only just got saved last year. And I just thought, that is just amazing. God's pursuit of her for 70 plus years.
Oh, wow. That's what a great story. And that she that you made that connection and got to hear that then.
Yeah. It was so beautiful. I mean, and it was long. We we got together at 1030 this morning, and she didn't finish telling her story until about 1230, but I was enthralled the whole time.
Enthralled and a warm heart. That's how we began the program last year when I asked the provocative but simple question, what warms your heart? And right here is a great place to say if you're praying for somebody, don't give up. If you've been praying a long time, don't give up. That hound of heaven has a lot of energy and loves those people that you're praying for. So you keep praying and stay with us. You're going to hear more response from those who called in last year when I asked, what warms your heart? And you'll hear more straight ahead on Moody Radio. What warms your heart. I've got a story from the football field. I've got a commercial that I saw. I've got an email from Wendy, who lives in New Hampshire, and I want to read that, but I want to hear from you. Isn't that great? All the lines are going, thank you, thank you. People in Bedford Falls. Donna is in Naples, Florida. Donna, what warms your heart?
Hi Chris, thank you so much for taking my call. How are you?
I'm doing great.
Oh, that's so nice. A couple of years back. A few years back, um, my mother had passed away, and the good Lord called her because he wanted her home. And, um, around this time of year, we just went crazy with the house. We we would decorate it. We would listen to Christmas music. We would praise the Lord for all the good things he's done for us and just had a great mother daughter time. And as I said, she had passed. So today I was at one of my clients house helping her clean her home. She's elderly and she wanted to decorate the house and so we just made it look beautiful, played the Christmas songs, and my mom was there with us in spirit, and it just made my heart warm because I felt her presence and I knew she was with us, and it just brought back a lot of fond memories of this time of year with her, you know? So I felt the peace, I felt the peace that I haven't had in a long time, and it just made my heart warm. And I just wanted to share that with you.
I think it would make her happy to hear what you just shared, but also hear that you're helping somebody else, don't you think?
Absolutely, yes, of course. And I did help her because like I said, they're elderly and they really can't do much. And she was just so happy and so grateful. And her husband and brought smiles to their face. So not only did I have a warmth for myself, but it warmed my heart seeing them happy because like I said, there's things they just can't do anymore. So I had two actually that that made me really happy.
It's something then that catches. It's something it's they say you can't, uh, think things are better caught than taught. And I think that's the same with a warm heart. It's as you teach your children. If you model before them, you can tell your kids until you're blue in the face, you need to read. Reading is fun. You ought to do it. It's when they see you doing it, and then they catch it that it really comes home and they start to do it for themselves. It's the same thing with the warmth of a heart. There's there may be somebody listening right now and you didn't when you started listening to this program and hearing these stories, you didn't have any warmth in your heart. But when you hear Donna's story right there and the memories that she has of her mom and what happened and the smile, the smile of a person that you you just a person you've never met and you're never going to see again. And you catch eyes and there is a smile that goes between the two of you. Let's see what Frank has to say in Tennessee. Hi, Frank. Go right ahead.
Hey, Chris. Uh, thank you for taking my call. Um, you just mentioned reading, and I, on the advice of a of a dear friend, picked up this book called In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. And it's the fictional story of a pastor. Um, without getting into too many details that challenges his, uh, congregation with, uh. And this was written in the late 1800s, by the way, with What Would Jesus Do? And my heart was greatly Warmed.
By change.
The change that took place in the church's heart. And then as it moved out into the city, the change that took place in the town.
They caught it again. There it is. Yeah. It's great. It's it's caught. And I have seen that. My friend Chuck Nabors does a stage play of In His Steps and does this as A11 man show and it's so well show one man performance. It is so powerful to see exactly what you're talking about and the places that you think are always going to be the same, and they will never change. And the hearts. See, that's the thing about Christianity, Frank, that that the broader culture misses. And that is it's not about, you know, doing good things for other people or toeing the line or getting God to not be mad at you because you do more good than bad. It's transformation. It's a it's a heart. It's not just a makeover. It's going from death to life. And that story really captures that, doesn't it?
Yeah. Amen. Um, yeah. Uh, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.
Frank, thanks for sharing that story. And if there's anybody listening who's never read that book, that's a really good one. Or you can look up, you know, the different. There's probably more than Chuck has done that as a stage play, uh, in his steps. Uh, I saw it on the football field. His name is Trey. Does anybody see the Bengals game the other night against the against Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence got hurt. Trevor's the excellent quarterback and his own linemen had stepped on his foot or his ankle and kind of turned it. And then he was tackled and his foot and his leg rolled under. It was it was pretty awful looking. Um, but then as I saw it and I know Trevor Lawrence is, you know, he's pretty spry and he's young. He's going to snap back, he's going to jump up. He's going to be okay with this. That's what I thought. His, um, one of his players got him under the armpit. And then Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals got him under the other armpit. And they both lifted him up. And Lawrence almost immediately falls to the ground on his knees and bangs on the turf, I assume because of the pain that he's in. You know, this is this is serious pain. This is not just ouchie. And it's what Hendrickson did next that I didn't see on the play. But when they pulled out Hendrickson, Trey takes his helmet off, goes down on one knee near where Trevor Lawrence is, and he begins to pray. At least that's what we assume. He's on one knee. He's got his helmet off. He's bowing his head. Okay. And he stays there for a few seconds, and then the staff gets there and he gets up and. And he moves away. But what I saw there wasn't calculated. It wasn't a performance. It wasn't staged. It was something that happened in real time. Such a pure moment of oh, Lord, help him. And that warmed my heart. And looking at social media then, which I said, I try to stay away from looking at the response of this from people around the country, whether you're a football fan or not, um, is just overwhelmingly positive to in a culture that you say anything about prayer in public places and you know, they're holding crosses up and trying to get you to go away, it's like this was they saw it. They saw it for what a pure moment that it was. So that warmed my heart to Dorcas is in the great state of Georgia. Hi, Dorcas. Thanks for calling today. What warms your heart?
Hi. Um, I've been a labor nurse since 1994, and you'd think it'd be more common, but when a dad just breaks down and sobs when he his baby is born, that warms my heart. And I end up. I always cry to. I just can't hold it back. It means that baby's going to have a dad that cares. And that is so, um, important. And it's again not as common as you think it should be. There's dads that are watching a football game when their baby's born and don't seem to think that it's so important. So that's my story.
Yeah. And how many how many births have you been? Have you attended?
You know, I can't even count. But since I see about three a week, three times, 50 times. Whatever. 1994 is. I guess it's in the thousands now.
Yeah. That's great.
And again, that's not so common to see a dad that committed. And it's just precious.
Yeah. And that's nothing that you can program either, you know. You can't say, okay, now I'm going to break down or I'm going to shed tears. It's either you, it's either it's there or it's not. Uh, Dorcas, thanks for your work. Thanks for catching all those babies and attending and Weeping at that site. If you're tuning in and you're saying, where's Lee Strobel? Lee's not feeling well. You pray for Lee and his recuperation. I think he's going to take a few weeks off here and he's just going to focus on getting better. So we heard just before the program today that Lee wasn't going to be able to be with us. His latest book is Is God Real? What a great question, exploring the ultimate question of life. And I'm asking you a different question. What warms your heart? Let's talk with Sammy in Cleveland, Ohio. Hi, Sammy. Hi.
Hi, there. What warms my heart? I'm a professor teaching psychology and finally decided to stop being afraid and making assumptions that if I let my students know about my faith, that, you know, it'll be a turn off, etc., and prayed about it, decided just to when it's appropriate, when it naturally weaves in to bring it in. And there are several theories that it can easily be weaved into. And by doing it with the focus on the word easily, that is, I don't stop and clear my throat and make a big deal of what I'm about to say. It just rolls out. I've had so many smiles from students faces, even some coming up to me after this or that class, thanking me profusely for being a professor who also loves Jesus. And I have had the best semester ever because I let go of fear.
Oh Sammy, that warms my heart just to hear that, because a lot of those now, of course, you know, there are some kids on the campus that are going to be, you know, push back against that or whatever. I don't think there's anybody that even if you're an atheist or an agnostic, I don't think there's any. I've never talked with an atheist or an agnostic who has said, I. I hate it when people genuinely, authentically tell me what what moves, what makes them believe in God. I've I've always heard atheists and agnostics say, you know, thanks. Thanks for sharing that. I can tell it's not something that you're just you're just saying you really believe that and that most of them, you know, there's some that are that are more antagonistic, but most of them if if that's really where you're coming from, they're not going to fight you on that. And the ones who are smiling at you and appreciative of what you say because it touches that nerve inside of them. Here's somebody else who is on the same page with me, who's in higher education. That's just gold, isn't it?
Amen. It is.
Yeah. Did you ever have a professor do that for you to to say anything like that when you were going to school?
No. The closest was a professor who said enough of things that I could put my two and two together and assume he was a person of faith. In fact, do more than assume I. I was pretty much assured of it, but he didn't really fold it in to anything. It's just a thing or two, he said, at this or that time that gave me that belief.
But I had to read between the lines to get it.
Yeah. There you go.
I am so glad Sammy got on the program last year answering that question. What warms your heart? This is a best of Chris Fabry live on this eve of Christmas Eve. There are more rabbit trails that we're going to run down. Really good holy rabbit trails of warm hearts. And we'll do that straight ahead. This is Chris Fabry live on Moody Radio online. Chris Fabry live.org. If you hear dated information, if you hear a phone number, disregard that. Today our program is recorded. We are not live with you but do go to the website Chris Fabry live. Org. We're talking about what warms your heart. Mine was warmed when I went to the Carenet site today. I kid you not, because they posted a story about Pam in one of their blogs. It's the Abundant Life blog. Click Care Net and go to the Abundant Life blog. Today you'll see about Pam. She was pregnant. She was in a foreign country. She contracted amoebic dysentery and her doctor advised her, look, terminate the baby is going to just a mass of fetal tissue. Don't don't go forward with the pregnancy. And she and her husband said, no, no, we're not going to do that. And the baby was born and did have some health challenges, but he survived. And the doctor later said that was a miracle baby. You can read Pam's story at the Abundant Life blog. Karen wants you to know you can make a difference in the world, one life at a time, just like Pam's baby. They developed a program for churches called Making Life Disciples that helps provide compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women and men who are considering abortion. So it's not just about saving the baby, although that's a great thing to do. It's about all of life abundance. Click the green connect button at Chris Fabry Live That Abundant Life blog. There are videos, articles, encouragement that you can have a positive effect about this issue in the culture, one heart at a time. Someone you know needs to hear about calnet. Click the green button there. Chris Fabry live.org. Oh Pam's baby. Pam's baby was just in Las Vegas two days ago, being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Little Tim, little Timmy Tebow. What warms your heart? That's the question. Uh, Crystal's in Spokane, Washington. Crystal, why'd you call today?
Hi. I just wanted to say that, um, what warms my heart is when my adult kids and and my adult nieces and nephews get together, and they are encouraging to each other, and they protect each other and and just have fun together.
That that really.
Warms.
My heart. Yes.
And then to think of the biblical injunction, uh, to to little children to have these little children's children in unity and following the Lord, you know, and to see that then play out in a nuclear family. Yeah.
That's just so awesome. Yeah. So awesome to.
See. I hear exactly what you're saying, Crystal. And and if you have that going on, there's a lot of conflict. If you have that going on, see it. Be grateful for what you see there or even glimmers of it. Uh, Kesha is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. What a great place to be from. Hi, Kesha.
Hi, Chris. Thank you for having me.
Glad to do it. What warms your heart?
Um, it's actually kind of what you were just talking about. My youngest daughter teaches me life lessons, and it warms my heart because it's kind of a reciprocal thing. Christmas is always very hard and complicated for me, and so I never go into the season with a great deal of anticipation, because I know that the complicated part is coming. The hard feelings. And then last year, when we gave out presents, she burst into tears and said, I don't deserve this. And it was just it's everything that Jesus is in the sense of none of us deserve him, but we get his mercy anyway. And so we talked about gift giving and why we give gifts and what it should represent. And that is really carried me into this Christmas season. I'm so excited and happy for it. I've got joy about Christmas again and that is what's warmed my heart. Is this my kid.
Who's.
Taught me something without even trying to?
Well, and again we go back to that. You caught it from her. She lived it. You caught. She didn't. Wasn't trying to teach you anything, but she did, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Well, and you were listening and you were looking and you were. I think that's part of what we haven't given a definition, but I think part of it is you're open and receptive to something touching you on a level that's deeper than just, oh, that, that was fun. Or oh, that, that gave me a good feeling. Um, that there's there's something deeper and you got to it with. We don't deserve his grace and his mercy. The gift that was given to us was not earned. It was by grace that he did that for us. And that's. That brings us back there every time, doesn't it?
Yeah. It's everything.
Can you explain? You said just something. You're getting ready for the hard feelings When you said that, did you mean the hard like Christmases past or expectations that were dashed? Or or were you thinking of something else?
Um, I think.
It's a combination of missing loved ones, but also that with that missing of family, there was there's the the hardness of those holidays. Those were the family that I grew up in. Those were hard holidays. Whereas with my husband and our three girls, it's becoming different now. And I'm just again, I'm grateful because I don't deserve the family I have either.
Yeah.
Yeah. That's great. So that's it. You you you hit the nail on the head with that one. And there are a lot of people that are saying, I know exactly. You must you must be in my family. Keisha. Thank you. Uh, Wendy says hi, Chris. I listen to your show every day on Wvnn. Concord, NH. I always enjoy your sense of humor. You make me laugh. I work in a nursing home here in Concord. One of our new residents has Alzheimer's. I was in her room this afternoon cleaning up a spill. She didn't know who had made the mess. It was her. She was upset that I had to mop it up. I reassured her that I didn't mind at all. I asked her if she had owned a store in downtown Concord several years ago. I mentioned the name of the store and she said yes, she had. When I told her that I liked shopping there and always enjoyed talking with her, her eyes softened and she thanked me. I think that for a brief moment I eased her burden of dealing with this awful disease. No matter what I get for Christmas this year, it will pale in comparison to knowing that I temporarily made this precious child of God's day. My mom had Alzheimer's and passed away in 2015, so I completely understand the sadness that family members experience both during the disease's journey and the years that follow. Nursing home staff only see a small snapshot of your loved one. I so very badly wanted to tell them that there was so much more to my mom than what they saw. She was fun, kind, and loving. Not only was she my mom, she was my best friend. And when Wendy sent that email, it just showed what a small thing you have to do in order to reach into somebody else's life. That's the other thing I wanted that I've been thinking about. Another way to look at what warms your heart is how would you like to warm someone else's heart? What is it you could say? What is it that you could do to stir up that warmth in somebody who needs to see to to have that in their own life. For Wendy, all it was, all it took was a mop and a little bit of time and a memory that she grabbed onto when her friend in the nursing home couldn't. And she gave that to her. That's a gift. That's what a warm heart looks like. Irene is in Orlando, Florida. Irene, why did you call today?
Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me. I called because what really warms my heart is my younger brother. How kind and humble he is and how he is such a servant, not only to my mother, but I see how he serves his wife and his daughters and his and his sisters. It's, um, very unusual to see a man do the types of things that he does. And my mom got sick about three years ago, and I saw how he would always show up at the hospital. He would always be there to help, whether to give her a bath, to help her walk. And now, since she's been home, she's done a whole lot better since she got out of the hospital. But she has some dementia. It doesn't matter what she needs. He's there. He rubs her legs, he rubs her feet. He cooks for her. And he doesn't say this is man's work. I mean, this is a woman's work.
Right? Right.
He never says that. And he is such a sweet brother. So that's what warms my heart to see how a man have so much respect for his mother and so much respect for women. It's just unusual to see in these days, today, to me, you don't see men, a lot of men doing that.
What's your brother's name? Irene.
His name is Vince.
Vince. Where do you find a guy like Vince? Well, it sounds like your mom raised. Part of it. Was the raising in the home that that taught him. Or he caught the the kindness and the compassion and the care. Where do you find a man like that?
He did? Yeah.
Yeah. What about your dad?
From my mother. Because my mother is like that. My mother is a Christian woman. She's always set the example to her children on how to treat other people.
But what about your dad? Was he in the picture?
He passed away in 1997, and since he passed away, my mom has never had to want for anything to be done around the house because my brother Vince, he's a person who has great mechanical skills. He fixed anything that she needs and it's almost like he just he's just there to step up to the plate and fill in. So yeah.
You know what warms my heart, Irene, is that you? You see this? And you say that about Vince on the radio program, and my guess is you've told it to him to his face as well. And if there's somebody who says, I've got a brother like that, or I got a sister like that, I have somebody in my life who serves like that. Have you told him? Have you said that thing and warmed their heart with what you see in them? This is Chris Fabry live on Moody Radio. More of what warms your heart. Straight ahead. What warms your heart? That's the question we asked a little more than a year ago, and hearing a best of broadcast here on Chris Fabry Live. A couple of days before Christmas. Merry Christmas to you from all of us at Moody Radio and especially here at Chris Fabry Live. It warms my heart whenever I see a person's name on the list who's given a gift, and there's a star beside their name because it means it's the first time we've given and you can give a one time gift. It also warms my heart when somebody comes back fence partner with us and gives a gift each month. And it can be a $5 gift each month, or a $10 gift or more. If you give $30 or more, you get 50% off at Moody Publishers and anything in the Moody Publishers catalog. Plus you get my back fence post every Thursday, but I just want you to know how much we appreciate, especially here at the end of the year. I mentioned a little earlier that this book by the Swedish doctor George Sweeting and Doctor Don Sweeting, How to Finish the Christian Life, is our thank you. Right now. Call or click through 86695 Faber go to Chris Fabry live.org. And thank you so much for your support of the radio backyard fence. Amy says my older son cut his brother's hair. That warmed her heart. Sandy, hearing my grandchildren pray. It's so precious. Howie says, teaching the four and five year olds at my church that warms his heart. Leah says, babies, the innocence, expressions, dependence and independence, simplicity and all the future that lays before them. That's good. And hugging my 57 year old son, who was a £3 preemie when he was born. Such a frightening experience. Way back then, I lived with him and his family and they are so good to me. Hugging him fills my heart with joy. David is in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The thing that warms my heart is memories, and I want to elaborate on that as it's Christmas time and I go back. We had Christmas at my grandparents house, and I can remember the fireplace and the holly on the mantel and stockings around. But the thing that stands out the most to me is the memory of the people who were there. I had my grandparents, my parents, my brother, and they're all deceased. I'm the only one that's left. And those people impacted my life and steered me in the right direction. And those things stand out so much more than the things and the glitter of Christmas. Yes. And that's my most vivid memory, is of those people who sat around that table that were my family.
And they were there when you stubbed your toe to when you made a mistake, when you did something that you wish you hadn't. They were there to to help you reprimand when you needed it, but just to love you through it. Right?
Yes, yes. And my mother watched over me and got on to me good and hard about things I did wrong and things like that. But she always loved me and I knew that. And she, you know, kept me steered in the right direction. Yeah. And all those people, my grandfather and my father were the most giving people, and they ran a pharmacy. And if somebody didn't have money to buy prescriptions, they they gave it to them. And just lots of memories. They were great people. And they really shaped my thinking and my life and and it just makes me smile in my heart to think about those days.
Smiling. Okay, there's another definition of it. Smiling in your heart is warming your heart, but it also does the other thing, which is it makes you want to be like them, right?
Yes. They set a great example.
Well, and that's why I think the, you know, the story about the, the football player and kneeling down and immediate immediately praying right there, you know, in front of, in front of all the crowd and the cameras and everything. It was like he didn't care and he wasn't doing his show. He was just like, this is the this is the natural response to something that he didn't have control over. Oh, God. Would you help? Would you come in here? And I want to be that way, too. David. Thank you. Minnesota. Sylvia is in Saint Cloud High. Sylvia, why did you call?
Well, I've been a widow for 13 years, and, um. I know the Lord, right? Very well. I'm a Jewish believer. And, um, I think I'm really thankful for the people that support me. Um, they take care of me. I'll put it that way. These are loving people that I've known for years. And they just keep giving me and giving me and giving me, and I take it all. But I also thank them through, uh, Hanukkah is tomorrow, and I'm making some special things for these people. And this is the only way, because I don't have a lot of money, so I'm giving back that way. Mm.
So what warms your heart, then, is when you see him walking up the coming up the walk or shoveling your walk or doing something like that?
Well, no. They take care of me like they give me rides to places because I don't have that transportation anymore. And so I just ask them and they they show up at my door. It's that kind of loving relationship that I have with them.
I love it. Sylvia, what are you going to do special for Hanukkah then? If it starts tomorrow.
What will I'm making? No, I'm a baker, just like my father was a baker. And I love to make rugelach. And I'm going to make, uh, potato pancakes for myself. But I'm going to make a lot of rugelach. So I'm going to give that out as little gifts to these people.
That's great.
And so it warms my heart to give, you know, part of my heritage to them.
Yes.
Oh, I'm so happy that we had this program, Sylvia, we would have gone all year without hearing your story in the arugula and what you're doing for Hanukkah. Thank you for sharing your heart with us today. And all of the lines are going here. I love what I love what's going on with Margaret, she says, the smile on my grandchild's face, a text from a friend telling me gas is cheaper by them, and feeling the cool breeze on my face when I opened the front door, Beth says, always children. We don't have any. So when our friends share pictures or videos of their kids, it truly warms my heart. Or the kids on the Shriners Hospital commercials. I saw a commercial the other day that did the same thing. If you seen this one, it's about a truck. It's a it's a car maker, but it's the an older woman has some form of dementia, and it's her granddaughter who leads her out to the truck and they go for a ride and the memories start coming back to her. And by the time that you can tell, there's a little friction between the granddaughter and her mom. And by the time they get back, there's this connection that they've made. I know that they're kind of playing on us sentimentally, but there is something there that warmed my heart, and I hope that somebody's message here today warmed yours. I love what, um, was said about Vince. And I said, where do you find a man like that? And there's another man that was born 2000 years ago who gave himself, who gave all of himself so that you and I might have a relationship with God. It is his birth that we celebrate at this time. Where do you find a man like that? Well, he was born in Bethlehem. Come on back tomorrow. We've got another great program for you. Chris Faber Live's production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.