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A Match Made For Christmas

By Debra Lynn Collins

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Prologue


“The Briarwood Community Church’s Christmas party is now set for December 17th. Here it is three days before Thanksgiving, and we already have our calendars full.” Faith Swafford’s voice trembled with exhilaration. “It’s official, ladies. The Holiday season has begun.” She rapped the gavel on her kitchen table, approving the date for the church’s Christmas party as the others in the room roared with excitement.
Christmas time was coming, and the women of The Joy Belles choir and event planners had just penciled in their last event for the year. The entire group was comprised of eight women from the Briarwood Community Church--Faith Swafford, Jenna Noland, Lori Noland, Lyndi Cobb, Rachel Perry, Jillian Hutchinson, Kristen Webb, and Seirra Marshall. Everyone had attended the meeting tonight, with the exception of Seirra.
As the women sat around Faith’s kitchen table, they all began to share their ideas about how to make this year’s Christmas party better than ever before. Some of the ideas they all agreed on and others they didn’t. Nevertheless, the room was electrified with anticipation.
Jenna clapped her hands and wiggled back and forth in her chair. “I believe this year is going to be the best year ever.”
Lori laughed as she wrapped one arm around her sister’s shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. “You say that every year, Jenna.”
“I know, but I’m always right. Every year just gets better and better.” Jenna’s brown curls bounced on her shoulders as she bobbed her head from side to side.
“She’s right,” Kristen said with a nod, looking around the table at the other women with a grin. “Our church’s Christmas party is always the best and the biggest event of the year, and every year it’s better than the year before.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
A few minutes later, Faith tapped the gavel on her kitchen table once again to silence the group. “Okay, ladies, now that we have all the upcoming events marked on our calendars, it’s time to move on. But before we do, I want to thank all of you for your wonderful ideas. They are going to make our Christmas party a great one. I know everyone is excited about it, believe you me I am, too. But,” she lifted up one finger. “We still have one more issue to cover. We need to decide who will be chosen this year for our Christmas Cheer project. As all of you know, it needs to be someone who has been a little down on their luck, someone who needs a little extra Christmas cheer from us to boost their spirits. Any suggestions?”
All seven women began to chatter, tossing out a name here and there. But the group as a whole didn’t agree on any of the choices.
Lori waved her hand in the air. “You know, if you ask me, I think our own Seirra needs some extra special Christmas cheer this year. She hasn’t been the same since her break up with Craig a couple of months ago.”
With a concerned nod, Lyndi agreed with Lori, and then shook her head in irritation and disbelief. “I know. I can’t believe that man just up and moved away without even telling her, and then to make matters worse, he breaks up with her through a text. Who does something like that? Despicable.”
“I always thought she was way too good for him. It just breaks my heart that someone as special as Seirra was treated that way. She has the most loving and tender heart of anyone I know. I think that’s why she put up with him as long as she did.” Rachel crossed her long legs with a jerk. “She must have seen the good in him when no one else did.”
All the women agreed.
“Craig did start out as such a nice guy, but after he received that inheritance after his grand-paw died, he sure did change, and not in a good way,” Jenna added.
“I noticed that, too. But Seirra never stopped praying for him, even after he stopped going to church with her.” Lori clutched her hands to her chest, and then she looked around at the other women. “Oh no, I just thought about something.” Worry cascaded down her face. “For the past couple of years, all of us and our dates or husbands have attended the party together as a group. Do you think she would even go to the party without a date? It just wouldn’t be right if she weren’t there. Take tonight for example. I know she had to work, but I miss her when she’s not here with us.”
Faith looked around at the others and nodded. “I think all of us feel the same way.”
“But what can we do?” Lyndi asked.
All the women exchanged glances, waiting for someone to have the right answer.
“I got an idea that will certainly solve the problem.” Jillian snapped her fingers as a huge grin spread across her face. “Let’s give Seirra a man for Christmas.”
“A man for Christmas?” Jenna lifted her eyebrows and then grinned. “It certainly has a ring to it.”
Faith giggled as she shook her head. “I doubt if he would fit in a stocking.”
“We could wrap him up in a big red bow and put him under the Christmas tree we’re trimming in the fellowship hall this weekend. He can be the first present of the season,” Lori added, laughing with all the others.
Kristen stood and fanned her arms in the air to quieten the group. “Wait, wait, wait. That’s not a bad idea.”
“What? The stocking or the big red bow?” Jillian teasingly asked.
“No, giving Seirra a man for Christmas.” Kristen looked around at all the other women as they stared at her in disbelief.
“You can’t be serious.” Faith’s head jerked up as her brows shaped into a V.
“We were just joking around, Kristen,” Jillian said.
Kristen took a deep breath before continuing. “Just hear me out. Let’s think about this. All of us know at least one bachelor. In fact, our church is full of them. Good Christian men. I’m not saying we’re going to try to marry her off or anything like that. She just needs someone to take her mind off Craig and escort her to the Christmas party. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m ready to see her happy again. I miss her spunk, don’t you?”
“She’s not going to go along with this. You know that, right?” Faith asked as she looked at the other women for support in convincing Kristen this was a horrible idea.
Rachel tipped her head. “What if we don’t tell her? We’ve never told any of our recipients they were the ones that we chose to encourage until they found out the night of the Christmas party at church. What would make this any different?”
“You can’t seriously be going along with this crazy idea, Rachel?” Jenna asked. “This is absurd. You can’t give anyone a man for Christmas, and besides that, we are not matchmakers.”
The room fell silent for several seconds as the women all looked from one to the other.
Finally, Lori cleared her throat as she shifted in her seat. “If we decide to do this, how would we even go about it the right way?”
“Like I said before, we all know of at least one bachelor, right? We could make it, I don’t know, like a contest for them, or something along those lines. They could all compete for her heart, and whoever she chooses to take to the Christmas party will be the winner. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work.” Kristen beamed with enthusiasm. “What do you think?”
“Winner? What would the man win?” Jillian asked.
“I’ve got it.” Jenna twisted in her seat, grabbed up her purse, and pulled out a long white envelope. Her grin grew wider as she waved the envelope in the air above her head. “I was given two tickets to the Super Bowl at work as a bonus for job performance. As all of you know, I am not a football cheerleading kind of girl. So, what if we give them to the man she takes to the party?”
Faith drummed her well-manicured nails on the table. “All of this sounds absolutely ludicrous, but…”
A shadow of annoyance crossed Kristen’s face as she lifted one hand in protest. “Faith, let’s just…”
Faith waved to silence Kristen. “Let me finish. As I was saying, this all sounds ludicrous but, as I’ve listened to everyone’s thoughts on this, this just might actually work. Besides, who knows, God may send her Mister Right through one of us. A good Christian man who will truly love her the way she deserves to be loved.”
Kristen slapped her hands together. “Great. Now that we have Faith on board, I say let’s vote on it. I’ll be the first to say yes.” She shot her hand up in the air.
One by one, the rest of the women stood to their feet to join Kristen, all except Jillian.
Jenna tilted her head to the side and lifted a brow. “What do you say, Jillian?”
“If this backfires in our faces, all of you better let Seirra know I was against it from the start, but if we’re going to really do this, let’s give it our best shot. I guess I’m in, too.” Jillian pushed her chair out and stood to her feet.
“So does this mean we are going to be Christmas matchmakers after all?” Lyndi asked with a laugh.
“It sure does sound like it,” Jenna said.
Faith lifted her hands. “Okay, before we make this official, I have a suggestion. We don’t want this to get out of hand, with too many men chasing after Seirra all at the same time. So, I propose we only choose three bachelors from the church. It will be three men that all of us will have to agree on. What do y’all think about that?”
All the women agreed with smiles and nods.
“Okay.” Faith reached down and picked up the gavel. “Let the Christmas matchmaking begin.” With a rap of the gavel on the table, the room exploded with a cheer.

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