“May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.” –George Washington (1790)

America’s first Christmas in 1776 was anything but “merry”. The British had won every battle fought that year and the Continental Congress, afraid that Philadelphia was next to be captured, fled with a brief note to General Washington letting him know they were putting him temporarily in charge of the young nation. Washington desperately needed to win a battle. The army was in need of supplies, many men had worn their boots out and ammunition was always in short supply. The number of the soldiers was down to 5,000 men who ranged in age from 14 – 70 years that were not trained as soldiers.

Washington had split them into two flanks, one to the north and one to the south in order to keep at least one flank from capture. As Christmas approached, Washington came up with a plan to capture the outpost at Trenton on Christmas Day. The Hessians (German mercenaries) were stationed there and even though they were feared and dreaded he believed they would not be prepared for a Christmas attack. As was his custom he called in all his officers for a war council to lay out his plan. After doing so he asked for comments. General Gates, not a fan of Washington, spoke quite bluntly calling him unfit to serve as commander-in-chief and declaring this plan would fail.

In a bold and courageous move, Washington relieved Gates of his obligation and escorted at gunpoint from the room. However, he kept his company of men. They made their preparations to cross the river to Trenton in a bitter sleet and snow storm which cut their visibility to just 15 ft. and slowed their progress. This put them on shore early the day after Christmas instead of Christmas Day. On landing they were approached by a local militia captain who proudly announced they had attacked the Hessians late the night before. Washington, looked at the man and stated, “Man, you have just doomed us!” The element of surprise was gone.

But God had other plans. The Hessians were up most of the night chasing after the local militia and upon their return to quarters their commander told them to sleep in because no one would attack in such dreadful weather. Isn’t it awesome how God steps in when we have done all that is humanly possible in seemingly impossible situations? Trenton was taken with not one Continental soldier lost! Washington had the victory in battle that was so needed to lift the American’s spirits.

Without Washington there would be no United States of America. This was his gift to us on that first Christmas.
Without the baby in the manger we would not know true liberty and peace. God’s gift to mankind was salvation, the forgiveness of sins and redemption in the form of the humble birth of an innocent babe. I pray we never forget the greatest gift we have ever received and may it ever cause a spirit of generosity to flow out of a heart of love for the One who sacrificed everything for us.

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