Celebrate Love

Dear readers,

In accordance with the joyful season of giving, I would like to share with you this story I saw on several web pages. Do you ever feel that giving can only become a burden after sometime? Then, read this:

The Doll and The White Rose

I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. Seeing the ocean of people, I 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. Hesitantly, I hurried as much as I could to the toy department. Once again, I mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys. And 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 stroking her hair and embraced her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept looking over and wondered who the doll was for.

The little boy turned to his aunt and asked, "Are you sure I don't have enough money?"

The woman replied a little impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it."Then, telling the boy not to go anywhere, she left the aisle to get some items, promising to be back in a few minutes.

The boy continued to hold the doll. After a while, I asked the boy who the doll was for. He replied, "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 disagreed. "No, Santa can't go where my sister is. I have to give the doll to my Momma to take it 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 Momma 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 Momma not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store"

He asked if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some photos he'd taken at the front of the store. He said, "I want my Momma to take this with her so she won't ever forget me. I love my Momma 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 very quiet. While he was not looking, I reached into my purse and pulled out a hand full 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. And, of course, it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you, Jesus, for giving me enough money." He paused for a while. "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Momma 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 Momma a white rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Momma. 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 help thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. 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, 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, did he?

Two days later I read in the paper that 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 simply 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 in tears, my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was over-whelming.

And in a split second a drunk driver had ripped the life of that little boy to pieces.

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So, readers, still feeling reluctant to give? I guess not. If you think closer, God's love was much, much, much greater than the love the little boy had for his sister and mother. So great that He was willing to give up His one and only son for the selfish, hateful world who refused to obey Him, or even want have anything to do with God!

Readers, do take a time to reflect on what you are celebrating? Are you celebrating parties and games? Are you celebrating the arrival of Nintendo or Sony Ericson phone? (If only, you think.) Or are you celebrating the gift that surpasses all branded clothing, all jewelry, all video games, all your best friends .... the gift of God's love?

I have a song in mind I would like to share with you. The title is "Celebrate Love" by Jordan Pruitt. Although it was among all other worldly songs in the All Wrapped Up album featuring recordings by today's stars, it has lyrics that stands out from the rest. Play this song at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWtFqk_u8Js&feature=related