Be Miracle Adjacent

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Growing up, this time of the year represented the possibility of miracles. Choose whichever animated special, traditional Christmas story and as I aged, Hallmark, Lifetime and OWN movies always rising from the ashes for the town to be saved, a lost family member to return or a stranger donating a vital organ for someone’s new lease on life. The anticipation of the actualization of the miracle snatched our breath and prompted us to not look away. Instead, we held on to great expectation to witness the miracle unfold before our very eyes. Welp, this season is hitting a bit different. The miracle is paying the bills amidst layoff and underemployment. It is making a choice between mortgage and medication. Sadly, making it home safe through a neighborhood consumed by the presence of ICE. How I and perhaps you long for the simplicity of childhood with the only dilemma being how many items to circle in the big book from Toys R Us. While shifting is occurring around us, it doesn’t mean we cannot be a source of stability for others - in fact, I would suggest, now more than ever, it is incumbent upon us to form that Whoville circle around others to provide the strength, affirmation, love and care that they stand so desperately in need of.

I believe miracles happen each and every day. They don’t necessarily occur with a coordinated blitz marketing campaign or a social media post with millions of followers during a live. They are the quiet moments. Sending a text to a friend that comes across your mind, not knowing they’d just asked God for a sign that they still matter in the earth. Paying for someone’s coffee in the drive-thru lane making it possible for them to feel seen. Hanging back on the zoom after the meeting has ended to ask a colleague how they are doing, knowing it’s their first holiday without a loved one. Certainly these appear as insignificant, but in a world of busy, self-centeredness, anxiety and distance, these small gestures can make the difference between life and as the kids say, “unaliving.”

When I reflect over 2025, I started on the mountaintop and have been sliding down the side every since. My physical health was (and is) challenging. Back pain the entirety of the calendar year, fracturing my hand and most recently spraining my wrist took a toll on me. Spending hours in prayer and encouragement for my legacy who was laid off caused me to lean into a place I thought I wasn’t mature enough to handle. Changes on my job impacted by a national landscape unraveling the work I’ve done for decades made me long for retirement. The financial implications of every occurrence has been heavy - and yet God has positioned family, friends and even strangers to speak a word of encouragement, to bless me in ways that I’m unable to articulate. In many instances, even amidst the ashes, someone rose from the fire in the 9th hour to show me that God has not forgotten and that their “miracle adjacent” behavior is surely the runway for God to move yet again.

We can operate as “miracle adjacent” to others in the earth. But when we are each consumed with the pieces of our fractured experiences, may we be compelled to visit Psalm 77: 1-14 and be reminded that the miracles of God are not regulated to television specials, but are in fact tangible, current and within our reach:

I cried out to God for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
    at night I stretched out untiring hands,
    and I would not be comforted.

I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
    the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

“Will the Lord reject forever?
    Will he never show his favor again?

Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
    Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
 I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.

We are welcome to remember the miracles of long ago - but I stand believing that there are more to come; and the fact that I’m still here (and you) is living proof that there is more.