{"id":19348,"date":"2026-03-11T07:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/a-christmas-miracle-in-bethlehem\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:07:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:07:42","slug":"a-christmas-miracle-in-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/pets\/service-animals\/a-christmas-miracle-in-bethlehem\/","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Miracle in Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>Christmas City Village! I\u2019d been dreaming of coming to this fabulous arts and crafts festival in downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for years. But December was always busy, and Bethlehem is a 90-minute drive from where we live. Marty and I had been particularly busy in 2016. Still, we planned a little getaway and finally made the trip.<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>The SteelStacks building, once the heart of the Bethlehem Steel mill and now an arts center, was aglow with lights. The holiday spirit was all around. Yet Christmastime<\/a> has been bittersweet ever since I lost my brother Mark in 2004. A lieutenant colonel in the Army, he\u2019d been killed in Mosul, Iraq, a city he had taken pride in helping to rebuild. He was just 11 months older than me, and growing up, the two of us were as close as twins.<\/p>\n

Mark was a big guy with a goofy sense of humor and a heart of gold. As adults, we\u2019d never had enough time together, especially after his Army career took him far from home. Twelve years after his death, I still missed him every single day. At the holidays it hurt all the more.<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>I think Marty needed this getaway as much as I did. He\u2019d gone through a lot the last several years. We strolled hand in hand through the rows of vendors at Christmas City Village. Marty bought me a gorgeous snowflake brooch. So romantic!<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>After an hour or so we went to use the restrooms at the visitor center in the SteelStacks building. Just inside the center\u2019s door sat two volunteers, a woman and a man, checking hand stamps to make sure people had paid admission. My eyes went to the big black dog lying at the man\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>Marty and I love dogs. \u201cWhat kind of dog is that?\u201d I asked. \u201cIs it okay if we pet him?\u201d The dog was wearing a red service vest, so I knew to ask first.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>\u201cHe\u2019s a mix,\u201d I said. \u201cBlack Lab, Great Dane and bull mastiff.\u201d People were always asking me about my dog. I\u2019d had him for six months, and I couldn\u2019t stop talking about him. \u201cGo ahead, he loves to be petted.\u201d<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>I bent down, stroking his fur. Funny, Mark had owned the same three breeds of dogs when he\u2019d died. That was one of his passions, taking in rescue dogs. He was always trying to make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>\u201cThis dog saved my life<\/a>,\u201d I said. Somehow I felt as if I needed to tell this couple my story. \u201cI joined the military out of high school. Never saw action, but those eight years were the best of my life. When I got out, I bought a truck and became a long-haul driver. I did well for myself. Then nine years ago I was driving through Ohio when I got a call. My dad had been in a motorcycle accident back in Pennsylvania. It didn\u2019t look like he was going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>Our hearts really went out to him. I nodded, encouraging him to go on.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>I told them more. \u201cDad lingered in the hospital for a year in a coma. Finally I made the decision to take him off life support. His wife fought me, said I\u2019d killed him. The guilt ate at me. Then my truck died. I\u2019d exhausted my savings on Dad\u2019s medical bills and couldn\u2019t fix it. I lost my job, my house. I tried to kill myself. I mean, what did I have to live for anymore?<\/p>\n

Two years ago, I moved back to Allentown. I was angry at God, angry at everyone. A doctor diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], and I went into therapy at the VA clinic. A homeless shelter took me in. They had a rule: You had to volunteer 10 hours a week. So I got involved with the arts center here. One day a woman came to give a talk. She was from Tails of Valor, an organization that places service dogs with vets struggling with PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>\u201cThat\u2019s how this guy came into my life,\u201d the man at the visitor center said. His dog lifted his head as if he knew we\u2019d come to his part in the story.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>I told the couple about the first night my dog came home with me. I was having a nightmare when I felt him snuggling close, hugging me, like he was putting himself between me and my demons. I opened my eyes and the guilt and sadness had lifted. \u201cTails of Valor is an amazing program,\u201d I said. \u201cThey name all their dogs after soldiers killed in action. Phelan means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>\u201cWhat?\u201d I blurted. I was sure I\u2019d misunderstood.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>\u201cPhelan. That\u2019s my dog\u2019s name,\u201d I said. \u201cThe lieutenant colonel, the soldier he\u2019s named after, was really something. A hero. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Mosul.\u201d<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>It was like I was dreaming. Phelan? Who names a dog Phelan? Then it hit me. He was talking about Mark! My brother! I stood, tears streaming down my cheeks. All of a sudden, Phelan leaped up too. Standing on his hind legs, he put his front paws around my neck and hugged me tight. I wrapped my arms around Phelan and hugged him back. In that moment, I felt so loved\u2014it was as if my brother was there with me again.<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>\u201cMark Phelan?\u201d I said. \u201cThat\u2019s Marty\u2019s brother. He was killed in Mosul, his convoy targeted, blown up just before he was to take on a new assignment in Baghdad. Wow! We had no idea he\u2019d been honored like this.\u201d I read the volunteer\u2019s name tag. \u201cI\u2019m so glad we ran into you, Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>You could have knocked me over with a feather. Off and on I\u2019d thought about trying to connect with Lt. Col. Mark Phelan\u2019s family, but I hadn\u2019t known where to start. \u201cThe thing is, I never work this location,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m only here to help a new volunteer. I wasn\u2019t even supposed to be working tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

MARTY: <\/strong>Our meeting was no coincidence. That much I\u2019m sure of. Stephanie and I spent the next hour talking with Harold, and we\u2019ve stayed in touch since. I don\u2019t have a logical explanation for it, but every time we get together, Phelan rushes to greet me. Harold says he doesn\u2019t do that with anyone else. There are lots of plaques, even some buildings, that memorialize Mark, but I have to say Phelan, and the connection we share, is the honor that means the most to me.<\/p>\n

HAROLD: <\/strong>In the year since we met, Stephanie and Marty have joined me in supporting Tails of Valor, sharing their story at benefits and educational programs around the region. I sometimes think about how alone I felt those years after my dad died, how my life seemed to have no purpose. But God had a plan all along.<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE: <\/strong>After Mark passed, we were given a dog tag engraved with his silhouette and a statement about the difference his life had made. We never knew quite what to do with it until that December evening in Bethlehem. Now Phelan wears the tag as he serves his mission to help Harold. Some things are just meant to be.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Tails of Valor.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

For inspiring animal-themed devotions, subscribe to\u00a0<\/em>All God’s Creatures<\/strong><\/u><\/a>\u00a0magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHANIE: Christmas City Village! I\u2019d been dreaming of coming to this fabulous arts and crafts festival in downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for years. But December was always busy, and Bethlehem is a 90-minute drive from where we live. Marty and I had been particularly busy in 2016. 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