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 local 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. 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.
Reminders of an evening meal showed on her
small face. She carried a beautiful pair of
shiny, gold house 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 he searched his pockets, he
finally came up with $3.12. "I guess we
will have to put them back," he bravely
said "We will come back some other time,
maybe tomorrow"
With that statement a 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 $3.00 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 true spirit of
giving."
~Author Unknown~