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The
Nativity Scene
About a
week
before Christmas in Chicago, in the early 1930’s, our family bought a
new nativity scene.
When we unpacked it they found 2 figures of
the Baby Jesus. "Someone
must have packed this wrong," 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
2.
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 7126. Put on your warm
coats,
it's 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 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 we 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 they 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
can't 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
now 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," my
father reasoned, pulling off his boots. "You kids get ready for
bed
while I wrap Mother's present."
Then the phone rang. Father called
out, "Answer the phone and tell 'em we found a home for Jesus."
But it
was Mother calling with instructions for us 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?" my father groaned as we
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's
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 we set foot on the porch steps, my 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?" my father asked.
"We have just walked through below zero weather with the wind in our
faces all the way."
"Never mind all that now," my 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.”
My mother strode off to the kitchen to warm
the milk while my brother
and I wrapped up the five little children who were huddled together on
the couch. The children's mother explained to my father 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 going
through
my mind, '7126, 7126'. 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 your
missus. 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 Father. “You called
the right number. 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."
Mother came into the living room carrying a
plate of cookies and warm
milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, I noticed 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 my mother set before them.
Father finally got the oil burner working but
said, "You need more
oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes
sir, you
called the right number," Father grinned.
On the way home Father 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 pickup
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 the children ride along in the
back of the truck.
No one ever did call about the missing figure
in the nativity set, but
as I grow older I realize that it wasn't a packing mistake at all.
Jesus is always watching out for us.
Contributed
by
Janet Ellis
Defining
Moments
Archives
Copyright
© 2006, Jace Carlton. All International Rights Reserved.
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