a christmas miracle

i had to order a last minute package yesterday. believe me, i would have ordered it much sooner had i known that i would need it by today.

this package cost us $300, had to be refrigerated as soon as i received it or it would be worthless, and required my signature in order for delivery.

i was promised delivery by noon. i called at 2 with the promise that i would have it by 4. at 4:45 i called again and was told they had until 7 pm, and perhaps until the next morning, to deliver it. this becomes a problem because they were delivering it to my work and no one would be there at 7 pm. if the package wasn't delivered until the next morning, it would be ruined unless it was refrigerated overnight.

the shipping company made it very clear to me that they did not offer "refrigeration services" and there was nothing they could do about my package. their distribution center was closed and they didn't even know where the package was.

i cried. i begged them to re-route it, hold it at their office, tell me where the truck was and i'd pick it up myself. i tried to explain that this package could not be left somewhere overnight. i'm sure the poor lady i was talking to had heard excuses and complaints all day from ornery last-minute shoppers who wanted to know where their gifts were. she kept trying to get me off the phone, saying "i'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but there's nothing i can do about it."

i was clearly not making any headway in my desperate attempt to explain to her that this wasn't a gift and i wasn't just a stressed out last-minute shopper.

thankfully we have a friend who works for the shipping company in ogden but lives here in logan. i called him and explained my dilemma, asking if he knew anything i could do. he just happened to be driving right past the distribution center when i called. it was after 5 and i had already been told that they were closed, but they just happened to still be open. they just happened to have my package there, and they allowed him to pick it up for me so i could get it home.

coincidence?
i think not. it was a tender mercy. silly as it may sound, it was a reminder that the lord hasn't forgotten me.
it was a christmas miracle!