John Trent's Strong Families

Showing our Kids a “Great Light” this Christmas

Several years ago, on a rainy August day, two young adventurers decided to scale the highest summit wholly within Switzerland, called Mount Dom, near Zermatt, Switzerland. At 14,942 feet, it's higher even than the Matterhorn.

Even though they were inexperienced in mountain climbing, they were “in shape” college students and they felt confident in their mountain climbing abilities. Too confident, it turned out. For at noon, despite deteriorating weather, they boldly strode forth from the tiny village of Randa at the base of the Dom. Their goal was a house halfway up the mountain called the “High Hut” where they would spend the night before tackling the icy summit the next morning.

The two moved quickly up the forested trail as the rain continued to fall and even intensify. The sky darkened as they climbed upward, and the temperature dropped significantly. Because their goal was the "high hut" staffed by the Swiss Alpine Club, not the summit, they hadn't bothered to bring cold-weather gear. They soon regretted that fact as the constant rain soaked through their inadequate clothing.

At six o'clock P.M. they were still climbing when the rain suddenly turned to snow. They had long since crossed the timberline, and the trail before them was increasingly difficult to follow. By eight o'clock P.M. darkness had fallen, and they both knew they weren't just lost – they were in life-threatening trouble. They were soaked, shivering, and at risk of hypothermia. In the pitch-black darkness they had no way of knowing whether they were still headed toward the "high hut." Their path had disappeared, and they carried no tent or sleeping bags to shelter them from the storm or help them escape the cold.

Suddenly, just when their situation was most desperate, something miraculous happened. From a great distance away, a tiny light began to flicker. Even at a distance the faint glow looked as bright as a lighthouse beacon to those two shivering, frightened young men.

Where did it come from? Before retiring for the night, the keeper of the Dom's "high hut" had decided to step outside and place a kerosene lamp next to the door – just in case a beacon might be needed by anyone caught in the worsening storm. Encouraged, the boys pressed forward and in a few minutes found shelter that saved their lives.

That true story says much about the world our children face – and something we can do to help them. Children begin a journey in life full of high aspirations, often naive to the fact that they are walking right into the gathering darkness of a fallen world. On their own, even with loads of self-confidence and the vitality of youth, they will face a world growing darker and colder to God, His love, and His life.

Those two climbers couldn't find their own way that night; they needed a light to guide them to life and safety ... and someone willing to put that light where it could be seen.

This Christmas season, we can do something similar to what that “High Hut” keeper. In a world” to our children. The “light of the world” Himself was announced by His Father when He put a great “light” (a star) in the sky – and star that Wise Men and shepherds -- and wise men and women today -- still follow. The Child they found would become none other then the savior of all those who would look to Him in faith.

Or put in biblical terms, “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned.” Matthew 4:16.

May the Lord’s light and love shine on you and your family this Christmas season – and may we all keep holding out that light to our children, friends, family and a world that need His light!