Today, in the final of six Christmas memories that Christian leaders so generously shared with us this season, Christian writer and speaker Seana Scott describes how her family tried to make the best of a nightmare situation. Merry Christmas to all!
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By Seana Scott
The moving truck was scheduled to arrive any moment. I paced by the front door, anxious to make our new house a home.
The movers never showed up.
I called. A snippy lady said the drivers were delayed in transit from Texas and she would let me know when they might reschedule. I called again a few days later. The phone just rang and rang.
Where were all of our belongings?
A lawyer friend dug into the issue—and called with bad news. We chose a fraudulent moving company under investigation by the FBI. A federal agent told me we probably would never see our belongings again.
We would never see the handprint ornaments of my baby’s first Christmas, or the hand-crocheted snowflakes Mom tediously made decades ago—she’s now gone. We’d never see the craft-stick-and-glue Christmas tree my son made in preschool or the one-eared teddy I hoped to pass on.
I felt violated, enraged, broken. Everything we held onto through three major moves for ministry—all gone.
Months later, the Christmas season arrived—still without our belongings. We bought a fake tree on clearance to replace our lost one, and I rolled up my creativity sleeves to make decorations. I printed pictures from all our years of marriage, babies, toddlers, and now grade-schoolers—and glued them on festive craft paper from the local Michaels store.
We wrapped the PVC plastic pine needles in colored lights and hung pictures for ornaments. As we placed each one, we laughed and reminisced. The honeymoon to Hawaii. Fixing up our first house. God’s grace saving our first child who almost died at birth. Splash pads in the summer. Living room sheet forts. Gluten-free Christmas cookie experiments.
And I realized: We didn’t need the stuff still lost in boxes somewhere. We didn’t need the garland, the nativity wall art, even the handmade ornaments. What we needed for comfort and joy, love and laughter, we had all along: one another.
Moths and rust destroy. Thieves take your moving boxes. But love? Love can’t be lost in shipping.
Months later the boxes miraculously arrived. We gifted about half of our belongings to others who needed them—mattresses, coffee maker, curtains—but I kept my one-eared teddy I’m fixing as a surprise to my daughter this Christmas. And this year’s fresh-cut tree dons Mom’s hand-crocheted snowflakes—and lots of pictures.
Seana Scott is a speaker and writer who is passionate about helping others grow in their relationships with God through knowing God’s Word, walking with God, and living with purpose. She is founder of Well Soul Life ministry and produces the Well Soul weekly devotional podcast. She also serves alongside her husband, Jason, the adult discipleship pastor at Chapel Rock Christian Church in Indianapolis. Connect with Seana @WellSoulLife on Instagram or find her at WellSoulLife.com.
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