  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 lastminute 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 themanything. Buying for someone who had
everything and deploring 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.
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 bravelysaid. "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 thecashier. 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 bewith 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."
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