"My Christmas Miracle" 

(an assigned topic)

by WXAN & KMHM General Manager, Doug Apple

At times I feel like I am trapped in a vice.  Squeezing me on one side is my desire, my calling, to be in full-time Christian ministry.  On the other side is the necessity of providing for my wife and children.  Most of the time I am a man of faith, and most of the time God’s provision is very evident.  Sometimes, though, when I look at the family budget, I feel the vice tighten.

In 1991 the Christian radio station I work for was named the best in the country in our particular format.  We sounded good on the air, but our sales department was doing very little to capitalize on it.  Also in 1991 our third child was born.

In 1992 I realized that without sales, the station, and I, would never make any money.  So I dropped my morning dj show and became a salesman.  I made more money, but we also decided to send our firstborn to a Christian school which, of course, meant tuition bills.  Later in 1992 we found out child number four was on the way. 

Since our marriage, my wife and I had lived in rental housing.  Often I traded work for rent to ease the strain on the budget.  But now I was faced with providing for a family of six.  We talked about making the leap and buying our own home, but it seemed financially impossible.  If paying rent was a challenge, how could we be homeowners? 

I remember that winter, driving home from the radio station one night in the middle of a huge snowstorm.  I was the only one on the road, and giant snowflakes were falling.  As I inched down the highway, a song from my stereo played, “Some people gotta learn the hard way…”  As I contemplated my situation, I prayed, “God, am I like that?  Am I so stubborn about being in the ‘ministry’ that I am doing a poor job as a provider?  Should I just quit and go get a ‘normal’ job?  I don’t want to learn the hard way!  I need your wisdom.  I need to know I am doing your will.”

So where does the “Christmas Miracle” come in?  Like many miracles, instead of happening in a moment, it happened over time.  I kept trusting that God would provide, and kept working at the station, and soon God opened a door.  A lady my wife had worked with offered to sell us her house “contract for deed.”  It had room enough for all of us, we could afford it, we were finally out of the “rent paying rat race,” and best of all, we liked the house!

Over the last 20 years I have seen God come through in the clutch many, many times.  He has always provided our needs, and many wants as well.  But I’ll never forget that fork in the road I faced as a young family man on a snowy highway, when God gave me the faith and the wisdom to keep serving Him and trusting Him as the ultimate provider for my family.