This story shares the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Eve 1881


Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those

who squandered their means and then never had enough for the

necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his

heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I

learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from

receiving.



It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old

and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there

just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that

I'd wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that

night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little

extra time so we could read in the Bible.



After supper was over I took my boots off and

stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to

get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for

myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to

read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he

bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it

out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't

worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in

self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night

out and there was ice in his beard. "Come on,

Matt," he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out

tonight." I was really upset then. Not only wasn't

I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me

out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see.

We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't

think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on

a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at

one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do

something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my

cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I

opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I

didn't know what..


Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in

front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the

big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't

going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We

never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a

big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I

reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already

biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa pulled

the sled around the house and stopped in front of the

woodshed. He got off and I followed. "I think

we'll put on the high sideboards," he said.

"Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had

been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low

sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would

be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.



After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into

the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood

I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and

then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he

doing? Finally I said something. "Pa," I asked,

"what are you doing?" You been by the Widow

Jensen's lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived

about two miles down the road. Her husband had

died a year or so before and left her with three children,

the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what?


Yeah," I said, "Why?"


"I rode by just today," Pa said.

"Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile

trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood,

Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and

went back into the woodshed for an other armload of wood. I

followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to

wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa

called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke

house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He

handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and

wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over

his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his

left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I

asked. Shoes, they're out of shoes. Little Jakey just

had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in

the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little

candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a

little candy."


We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty

much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was

doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards. Of

course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was

left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to

saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also

had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we

didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes

and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow

Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have

been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house

and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took

the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The

door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is

it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt,

could we come in for a bit?"


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. He turned to me and said,

"Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. 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 as 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 with so much gratitude in her heart that she

couldn't speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd

never known before, filled my soul. 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 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 welled up in my eyes again. I'd never

thought of Pa in those exact terms 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 brothers

and two sisters had 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, I know for certain that 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. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little

candy for those children. I hope

you understand."


I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears

again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had

done it. Now 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.


God bless you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wonderful lesson in that story...funny how priorities change when faced with the true meaning of giving.

Very touching story. Thank you for posting it!

Merry Christmas

Absolutely.

Thanks so much for posting this wonderful story, Elliottisastar!

I love stories like that, I have been helping needy people this winter through a program in Woodland Park Co providing firewood for warmth. There was a single mom who lived near Cripple Creek in a fifth wheel off the electrical grid. She had a four ft x four ft solar panel that would run the lights but not much else. She said on a sunny day she had the power to watch her VCR for awhile.

It's a great feeling to help someone like that. Thanks for the story and Merry Christmas.

Glad you're all enjoying the story. It had me in tears even on the second read. It really touches the heart.

So happy to hear when people help out those in need. We need to do that throughout the year, but Christmas season is always a good jump start to get going.

If someone has the means to donate, then they should whenever they can and if they don't have the means, they can always give their time. Those who have gratitude for what they already have and make an effort to give back, get so much more in return. It's really amazing. God truly recognizes gratitude and charity.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all of You!

Charitable donations are way down right now and Colorado Springs Tent City is the fastest growing area in town.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.


Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

So THAT'S where that saying came from!! "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!"

My dog woke me up, barking, night before last and I couldn't fall back asleep. I turned on the TV and this is what was on. The next day I sought out this video on youtube and today, I ordered the DVD on Amazon for a Christmas present for someone. (one day shipping is awesome!)

It is the story about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Christmas Bells which was later adapted to become the Christmas Carol I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXfzp296zhA

This is BEAUTIFUL!

Oh,come let us adore him. Oh come let us adore him. Oh come let us adore him... Christ the lord.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.

Amen!!!

What a lovely story, Linda. Thanks for posting the link.

I will be consumed with our lord Jesus Christ today. It will be a great day.

You're welcome, Rooney! Merry Christmas to everyone! Let every heart prepare him room.

A definite Christmas miracle!



AP DENVER (Dec. 29) - Mike Hermanstorfer was clutching his pregnant wife's hand when her life slipped away in a Colorado hospital on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son's limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by cesarean section.

Minutes later he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life.

"My legs went out from underneath me," Hermanstorfer said Tuesday. "I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me."

Hermanstorfer's wife, Tracy, went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing during labor on Thursday, said Dr. Stephanie Martin, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, where the Hermanstorfers had gone for the birth of their son.

"She had no signs of life. No heartbeat, no blood pressure, she wasn't breathing," said Martin, who had rushed to Hermanstorfer's room to help. "The baby was, it was basically limp, with a very slow heart rate."

After their miraculous recovery, both mother and the baby, named Coltyn, appear healthy with no signs of problems, Martin said.

She said she cannot explain the mother's cardiac arrest or the recovery.

"We did a thorough evaluation and can't find anything that explains why this happened," she said.

Mike Hermanstorfer credits "the hand of God."

"We are both believers ... but this right here, even a nonbeliever - you explain to me how this happened. There is no other explanation," he said.

Asked about divine intervention, Martin said, "Wherever I can get the help, I'll take it."

Tracy Hermanstorfer, 33, was getting prepped for childbirth at the hospital Thursday morning and her 37-year-old husband was by her side when she began to feel sleepy and laid back in her bed.

"She literally stopped breathing and her heart stopped," her husband said. Pandemonium erupted as doctors and nurses tried to revive her with chest compressions and a breathing tube, but nothing worked.

"I was holding her hand when we realized she was gone," Hermanstorfer said. "My entire life just rolled out."

Doctors told him, "We're going to take your son out now. We have been unable to revive her and we're going to take your son out," he recalled.

After the Cesarean section, some of the team rushed his wife to the operating room while the others attended to Coltyn.

"They hand him to me, he's absolutely lifeless," Hermanstorfer said. The doctors went to work on Coltyn as Hermanstorfer held him, and soon he began to breathe.

"His life began in my hands," Hermanstorfer said. "That's a feeling like none other. Life actually began in the palm of my hands."

Martin said Tracy Hermanstorfer's pulse returned even before she was wheeled out of the room and into surgery. She estimates Hermanstorfer had no heartbeat for about four minutes.

Hermanstorfer remembers getting sleepy and closing her eyes in her hospital bed, then awakening in the intensive care unit.

Friends have asked if she saw a light or had other experiences described by others who have survived near-death experiences, but she didn't.

"I just felt like I was asleep," she said.

When doctors told her what happened, "I'm like, 'Holy cow, was it that bad? Wow.'"

The Hermanstorfers returned Monday to their home in Security, just outside Colorado Springs about 65 miles south of Denver.

Both Mike and Tracy Hermanstorfer worry that she might have a recurrence. Martin said she can't offer the Hermanstorfers much advice because she doesn't know what caused the original problem.

On Tuesday, the couple celebrated a delayed Christmas with their 3-year-old son Kanyen and Tracy Hermanstorfer's 11-year-old son, Austin, from her previous marriage.

She plans to tell Coltyn about his birth when he's old enough to understand.

"I'll tell him everything ... that he's my miracle baby. That he had a tough time coming into this world, that he's my miracle baby and he's still here with us," she said.

She said Austin is worried and confused but the experience is improving his already-close relationship with Mike Hermanstorfer, his stepfather.

Kanyen doesn't understand much except that doctors had to work on his mom in the hospital, she said. His reaction was, "OK, we got the baby, let's go home now."

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