It was only four days before Christmas.
The spirit of the season hadn't yet
caught up with me, even though cars
packed the parking lot of our discount
store. Inside the store it was worse.
Shopping carts and last minute shoppers
jammed the aisles.

Why did I come today? I wondered. My
feet ached almost as much as my head.
My list contained names of several people
who claimed they wanted nothing, but I
knew their feelings would be hurt if I
didn't buy them anything. Buying for
someone who had everything and the high
cost of items, I considered gift-buying
anything but fun. Hurriedly, I filled
my shopping cart with last minute items
and proceeded to the long checkout lines.
I picked the shortest, but it looked as
if it would mean at least a 20 minute wait.

In front of me were two small children.
A boy of about 5 and a younger girl. The
boy wore a ragged coat. Enormously large,
tattered tennis shoes jutted far out in
front of his much too short jeans. He
clutched several crumpled dollar bills in
his grimy hands. The girl's clothing
resembled her brother's. Her head was a
matted mass of curly hair. Remainders of
an evening meal showed on her small face.
She carried a beautiful pair of shiny, gold
slippers. As the Christmas music sounded
in the store's stereo system, the girl
hummed along, off-key but happily.

When we finally approached the checkout
register, the girl carefully placed the
shoes on the counter. She treated them
as though they were a treasure. The clerk
rang up the bill. "That will be $6.09,"
she said. The boy laid his crumpled
dollars atop the stand while while he
searched his pockets. He finally came
up with $3.12. "I guess we'll have to
put them back," he bravely said. "We
will come back some other time, maybe
tomorrow." With that statement, as soft
sob broke from the little girl. "But
Jesus would have loved these shoes," she
cried. "Well, we'll go home and work
some more. Don't cry. We'll come back,"
he said. Quickly I handed $3 to the
cashier. These children had waited in
line for a long time. And, after all,
it was Christmas.

Suddenly a pair of arms came around me
and a small voice said "Thank you lady."
"What did you mean when you said Jesus
would like the shoes?" I asked. The
boy answered, "Our mommy is sick and
going to heaven. Daddy said she might
go before Christmas to be with Jesus."
The girl spoke, "My Sunday school teacher
said the streets in heaven are shiny gold,
just like these shoes. Won't mommy be
beautiful walking on those streets to
match these shoes?" My eyes flooded as
I looked into her tear streaked face.
"Yes" I answered, "I am sure she will."

Silently I thanked God for using these
children to remind me of the spirit of
giving. Tis the Season!!!

Home ~ ~ ~ Back ~ ~ ~ Next
God's Page ~ ~ ~ God's Word

Email: God's Page