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Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped
around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were
sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off
any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the
lamp.
"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of
flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that
had the shoes in it.
She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time.
There was a pair for her and one for each of the children -- sturdy shoes,
the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her
lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and
started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to
say something, but it wouldn't come out.
"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said, then he turned to me
and said, "Matt, go bring enough in to last for a while. Let's get that
fire up to size and heat this place up."
I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I
had a big lump in my throat and, much as I hate to admit it, there were
tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled
around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running
down her cheeks and so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't
speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy filled my soul that I'd never
known before. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never
when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving
the lives of these people.
I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids
started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow
Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a
long time. She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know
the Lord Himself has sent you. The children and I have been praying that
He would send one of His angels to spare us."
In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears
swelled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact term
before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it, I could see that it was
probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the
earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for
Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.
Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed
when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get.
Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord, that the Lord
would make sure he got the right sizes.
Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to
leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug.
They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed
their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.
At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to
invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The
turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get
cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get
you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again.
Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell." I was the youngest.
My two older brothers and two older sisters were all married and had
moved away.
Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have
to say, May the Lord Bless you, because I know he will."
Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't
even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and
said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your Ma and me have been tucking
a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle
for you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed
me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your
Ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that
rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that. But on the
way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet
wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. So, Son, I spent
the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you
understand."
I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Just then the
rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot
more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant
smiles of her three children. For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any
of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering
brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa
had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the
best Christmas of my life.
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