Angel's Craft
I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute
Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever and I just had so
much to do. Christmas was beginning to
become such a drag. I kind of wished
that I could just sleep through Christmas.
But I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy
department. Once again I kind of
mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys, and wondered if the grand
kids would even play with them. I found
myself in the doll aisle.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about 5 holding a
lovely doll. He kept touching her hair
and he held her so gently. I could not
seem to help myself. I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered
who the doll was for. I watched him
turn to a woman and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I
don't have enough money". She
replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for
it." The aunt told the little boy
not to go anywhere that she had to go get some other things and would be back
in a few minutes. And then she left the
aisle. The boy continued to hold the
doll.
After a bit I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It is the doll my sister
wanted so badly for Christmas. She just
knew that Santa would bring it."
I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it.
He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister is... I have to
give the doll to my Mamma to take to her."
I asked him where his sister was.
He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "She has gone to be
with Jesus. My Daddy says that Mama is
going to have to go be with her.”
My heart nearly stopped beating.
Then the boy looked at me again and said, “I told my Daddy to tell
Mama not to go yet. I told him to tell
her to wait till I got back from the store."
Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken
at the front of the store. He said
"I want my Mamma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. I love my Mama so very much and I wish she
did not have to leave me. But Daddy
says she will need to be with my sister."
I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so
very quiet. While he was not looking I
reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count
that money one more time?
He grew excited and said, "Yes, I just know it has to be
enough." So I slipped my money in
with his and we began to count it. Of
course it was plenty for the doll. He
softly said, "Thank you Jesus, for
giving me enough money." Then the
boy said "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so
Mama can take it with her to give to my sister. And he heard my prayer. I
wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mama a white rose, but I didn't ask him,
but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Mama. She loves white roses so very, very
much".
In a few minutes the aunt
came back and I wheeled my cart away. I
could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in
a totally different spirit than when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper
several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little
girl and the Mother was in serious condition.
The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong
with that story.
Two days later I read in the paper where the family had
disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just
kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself and I went out and bought
some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman
was. There she was holding a lovely
white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store.
I left there in tears, my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little
sister and his mother was overwhelming.
And in a split second a drunk driver had ripped the life of that little
boy to pieces.
That little boy changed my life forever and I am so very glad he
did. His love and caring for others
inspired me to be a better person.
courtesy
of Odette & Sharon
A COURSE IN MIRACLES [excerpt]
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM
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