On the First Day of Christmas....
Pattern Of
Love
I
|
didn't question Timmy, age nine, or his
seven-year-old brother Billy about the brown wrapping paper they passed back
and forth between them as we visited each store.
Every
year at Christmas time, our service club takes the children from poor families
in our town on a personally conducted shopping tour. I was assigned Timmy and
Billy, whose father was out of work. After giving them the allotted $4 each, we
began our trip. At different stores I made suggestions but always their answer
was a solemn shake of the head, no. Finally I asked, “Where would you suggest
we look?”
“Could
we go to a shoe store, sir?” answered Timmy. “We'd like a pair of shoes for our
Daddy so he can go to work.”
In
the shoe store the clerk asked what the boys wanted. Out came the brown paper.
“We want a pair of work shoes to fit this foot,” they said.
Billy
explained that it was a pattern of their daddy's foot. They had drawn it while
he was asleep in a chair.
The
clerk held the paper against a measuring stick, then walked away. Soon, he came
with an open box. “Will these do?” he asked. Timmy and Billy handled the shoes
with eagerness. “How much do they cost?” asked Billy.
Then
Timmy saw the price on the box. “They're $16.95.” he said in dismay. “We only
have $8.”
I
looked at the clerk and he cleared his throat. “That's the regular price,” he
said, “but they're on sale; $3.98, today only.”
Then
with the shoes happily in hand the boys bought gifts for their mother and two
little sisters. Not once did they think of themselves.
The
day after Christmas the boys’ father stopped me on the street. The new shoes
were on his feet, gratitude was in his eyes. “I just thank Jesus for people who
care,” he said.
“And
I thank Jesus for your two sons, “ I replied. “They taught me more about
Christmas in one evening than I learned in a lifetime.”
--Jack Smith, as told to Raymond Knowles
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