About a week before Christmas the family bought a new
nativity scene. When they unpacked it they found two figures of
the Baby Jesus. "Someone must have packed this wrong," the
mother said, counting out the figures. "We have one Joseph, one
Mary, three wise men, three shepherds, two lambs, a donkey, a
cow, an angel and two babies. Oh, dear! I suppose some set down
at the store is missing a Baby Jesus because we have two."
"You two run back down to the store and tell the manager
that we have an extra Jesus. Tell him to put a sign on the
remaining boxes saying that if a set is missing a Baby Jesus,
call 555-7126. Put on your warm coats, it is freezing cold out
there."
The manager of the store copied down mother's message and
the next time they were in the store they saw the cardboard sign
that read, "If you're missing Baby Jesus, call 555-7126."
All week long they waited for someone to call. Surely, they
thought, someone was missing that important figurine. Each time
the phone rang mother would say, "I'll bet that's about Jesus,"
but it never was. Father tried to explain there are thousands of
these scattered over the country and the figurine could be
missing from a set in Florida or Texas or California. Those
packing mistakes happen all the time. He suggested just put the
extra Jesus back in the box and forget about it.
"Put Baby Jesus back in the box! What a terrible thing to
do," said the children.
"Surely someone will call," mother said. "We'll just keep
the two of them together in the manger until someone calls."
When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, mother
insisted that father "just run down to the store" to see if there
were any sets left. "You can see them right through the window,
over on the counter," she said. "If are all gone, I'll know
someone is bound to call tonight."
"Run down to the store?" father thundered. "It's 15-below
zero out there!"
"Oh, Daddy, we'll go with you." Tommy and Mary began to put
on their coats.
Father gave a long sigh and headed for the front closet. "I
cannot believe I'm doing this," he muttered.
Tommy and Mary ran ahead as father reluctantly walked out in
the cold. Mary got to the store first and pressed her nose up to
the store window. "They're all gone, Daddy," she shouted.
"Every set must be sold."
"Hooray," Tommy said. "The mystery will be solved tonight!"
Father heard the news still a half block away and
immediately turned on his heel and headed back home. When they
got back into the house they noticed that mother was gone and so
was the extra Baby Jesus figurine. "Someone must have called and
she went out to deliver the figurine," father reasoned, pulling
off his boots. "You kids get ready for bed while I wrap
mother's present."
Then the phone rang. Father yelled, "Answer the phone and
tell 'em we found a home for Jesus." But it was mother calling
with instructions to come to 205 Chestnut Street immediately, and
bring three blankets, a box of cookies and some milk.
"Now what has she gotten us into?" the father groaned as
they bundled up again. "205 Chestnut. Why, that's across town.
Wrap that milk up good in the blankets or it will turn to ice
before we get there. Why can't we all just get on with
Christmas? It is probably 20-below out there now. And the wind
is picking up. Of all the crazy things to do on a night like
this."
When they got to the house at 205 Chestnut Street it was the
darkest one on the block. Only one tiny light burned in the
living room and, the moment they set foot on the porch steps,
mother opened the door and shouted, "They're here! Oh, thank God
you got here, Ray! You kids take those blankets into the living
room and wrap up the little ones on the couch. I'll take the
milk and cookies."
"Would you mind telling me what is going on, Ethel?" the
father asked. "We have just walked through below zero weather
with the wind in our faces all the way."
"Never mind all that now," mother interrupted. "There is no
heat in this house and this young mother is so upset she doesn't
know what to do. Her husband walked out on her and those poor
little children will have a very bleak Christmas, so don't you
complain. I told her you could fix that oil furnace in a jiffy.
Mother strode off to the kitchen to warm the milk while
Tommy and Mary wrapped up the five little children who were
huddled together on the couch. The children's mother explained
that her husband had run off, taking bedding, clothing, and
almost every piece of furniture, but she had been doing all right
until the furnace broke down.
"I been doin' washin' and ironin' for people, and cleanin'
the five and dime," she said. "I saw your number every day there,
on those boxes on the counter. When the furnace went out, that
number kept goin' through my mind. 555-7162. 555-7162. "Said
on the box that if a person was missin' Jesus, they should call
you. That's how I knew you were good Christian people, willin'
to help folks. I figured that maybe you would help me, too. So
I stopped at the grocery store tonight and I called. I'm not
missin' Jesus, mister, because I sure love the Lord. But I am
missin' heat. I have no money to fix that furnace."
"Okay, Okay," said Ray. "You've come to the right place.
Now, let's see. You've got a little oil burner over there in the
dining room. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Probably just a
clogged flue. I'll look it over, see what it needs."
Ethel came into the living room carrying a plate of cookies
and warm milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, you
could notice the figure of Baby Jesus lying in the center of the
table. It was the only sign of Christmas in the house. The
children stared wide-eyed with wonder at the plate of cookies
that had been set before them.
Ray finally got the oil burner working but said, "You need
more oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes
ma'am, you came to the right place," he grinned.
On the way home Ray did not complain about the cold weather
and had barely set foot inside the door when he was on the phone.
"Ed, hey, how are ya, Ed? Yes, Merry Christmas to you, too. Say
Ed, we have kind of an unusual situation here. I know you've got
that pick-up truck. Do you still have some oil in that barrel on
your truck? You do?"
By this time the rest of the family were pulling clothes out
of their closets and toys off of their shelves. It was long
after their bedtime when they were wrapping gifts. The pickup
came. On it were chairs, three lamps, blankets and gifts. Even
though it was 30-below, father let them ride along in the back of
the truck.
No one ever did call about the missing Jesus in the nativity
set, but as the years go by, we wonder. Packing mistake? What
do you think?
Amen.
* From a story that has been floating around in cyberspace for several years. It can be found in Christmas Stories for the Heart, Alice Gray, ed., (New York : Fine Communications, 2004)
click and send us mail