On the 7th Day of Christmas Past,
Question: How were two boys content with what little they had, even when stores beckoned them to want more?
To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules.
“The Christmas Shoppers”
“The stores were bright with the glitter of Christmas and filled with exciting games and gadgets, and with warm and appealing clothing to tempt Timmy, age nine, and his seven-year-old brother Billy who, with Mr. Smith, were doing their Christmas shopping.
They had gone from store to store, looking at many possible gifts and then always shaking their heads when a clerk asked if she could help them. Billy had almost bought a game he wanted, and Timmy had paused an unusually long time before a display of books, but after whispered consultation with each other, the boys had decided in each case to look further. Finally impatient, Mr. Smith asked, “Where would you suggest we look next?” He was a member of a club that each year helped to make Christmas happier for poor families. He had given Timmy and Billy each $4.00 and had taken them shopping for gifts they especially wanted.
“Could we go to a shoe store, sir?” asked Timmy. “We’d like a pair of shoes for our dad. He hasn’t any to wear when he gets better and can go back to work.”
When they reached the shoe store. Billy pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Timmy, who smoothed a crumbled piece of brown paper before giving it to the clerk and explaining it was a pattern of their Dad’s foot. They had carefully drawn it while their father slept in a chair one evening. The clerk studied the pattern and then walked away. He returned in a few minutes, held out a box holding a pair of shoes, and asked, “Will these do?”
The shoes were so beautiful that the boys almost held their breath. Then Timmy saw the price on the box. “We only have $8.00,” he said, disappointed, “and these shoes are $16.95.”
The clerk cleared his throat. “They have been,” he answered, “but they’re on special today for Christmas gifts. They’ll cost you just $3.98, and you’ll have money left over for something for yourselves.”
“Not for us,” the boys exclaimed, “but we can get something for our mother and our two little sisters. Thank you, oh, thank you, sir!”
Over the boys’ heads, the clerk and Mr. Smith exchanged meaningful looks. But Timmy and Billy, excited at being able to buy presents for the rest of the family, paid no attention to the men. They could hardly wait to finish their Christmas shopping.”
The boys were accustomed to not having or needing much. They had learned that giving was more important than receiving and found that that’s where to find true happiness.
By thinking about their family first, they knew it was more important to get gifts for them. It made them feel good to think of others first.
The boys used the money that was meant for them to buy shoes for their dad and presents for their siblings. They knew it was better to give than to receive.
These small boys were focused on serving and lifting others, knowing that is what Christ would do. This story relates the true spirit of Christmas.
Also story of love the boys had for their dad and family. Not selfish but wanting to buy to make their family happy instead of themselves.
The two boys were thinking of others’ needs and happiness instead of their own. That is a secret to being truly happy and content.
These two boys found joy in providing for their family. They had an innocence about them and a mission to fulfill. With their meager means, they thought nothing of themselves and their wants, they thought more on the welfare of their family. They were willing to give all that they had, but in offering everything, the store clerk kindly discounted items, offering them a sense of pride.
They cared more about their family, then themselves. They wanted to give something that their father didn’t have and would need when he was well again. When they had money left over, they wanted to get their mother and sisters gifts.
They were so willing to try to make Christmas a little brighter for their family; and think little of themselves. They especially wanted to help prepare their father to be able to go back to work when he was well again.