|
|
To
Everything There is a Season: . A Time to Weep, A Time to
Laugh.
Ecclesiastes 3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Doll and A White
Rose
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 kinda 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 I wondered if the grandkids
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 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 leaving the Mother 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. And 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 will always be
inspiring to me!
Return to A Time to
Laugh HOME from The Doll and a White Rose
|
|
|
