day 12

And the angel said unto her, Fear not Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." (Luke 1:30-31

Jimmy and His Cowboy Belt

Two or three days before Christmas last year, a group of children who come often to our house for stories on Monday afternoons came and we sat in a small room around a little Franklin stove in which a welcome fire was burning. We sat there and we talked about Christmas. I was aware that there was a shine from the firelight in the eyes of those boys and girls and on their wind-polished cheeks.

But no shine equaled that which gleamed from the buckle on the cowboy belt that Jimmy was wearing. Nine-year-old Jimmy was something of a swaggerer, but he liked books and liked to come and listen to stories. I had known for a long time that his cowboy belt was a prized possession, and the buckle was something marvelous.

We talked about Christmas for a little while. And then I read them one of the loveliest stories I know--Rachel Field's "All through The Night"--a simple retelling of the Christmas story. There was a great silence while I read--the only sounds were the words of the ageless tale and the crackling of the fire in the stove.

When the story was over, no one spoke for a moment. I knew that it could not be a long moment, because something like that can't be held very long--with fifteen or twenty children for whom the deliciousness of Christmas is only two days away.

I was the first one, however, to break the spell with words other than the story. I said, "What if we put on our coats and hats and went out of this little house and across the field in the snow and, dark as it is, went down the slope, across the brook, and into the woods. What if there we came upon the stable and the manger and the Baby? What could we give to Him?"

Again there was a moment of utter silence. Then Jimmy put his hand on his middle and said, "I'd give him my cowboy belt."