heart's desire

      Jesus is my provider.
      In 1986 my wife dearly wanted to have a Christmas tree. We lived in Des Moines, Iowa at the time. We could not afford to buy a real tree. But this was her heart's desire.
      A friend of ours worked for the local 700 Club chapter as a phone counselor. He told us that the chapter was making available live Christmas trees for the poor.
     So, one Saturday I drove down in our VW bug to pick out a tree. I made two trips. One for our friend JJ, a single mother, and one for us. The tree filled that small car.
     Jan decorated the tree with ornaments and later we had the church youth groups over for a Christmas party. It was then that the group leader made mention to the kind of tree we had. He said it was a Scottish pine. One of the best trees you could buy. It was just over six feet tall and the branches spread out nicely.
     When I heard that I was amazed. Jesus gave my wife the desire of her heart. Even though we could not afford it. Jesus notices the desires we have in our hearts. That Christmas Jesus showed us the attention he has for us. It changed our ideas about Jesus. Jesus notices the little private things.

prayer journal entry, 1986
Karl Marxhausen