The Best Birthday Present Ever
Kathy Glover
Copyright 2014
Kathy Glover
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DEDICATION
It is a great privilege for me to dedicate this book to my risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Without Him, no part of this would have been possible. He supplied the main theme of the story in Bethlehem. The possibility for you to be reading this now, He supplied on Calvary.
It is my prayer that this story will touch your heart and be a blessing to you.
All in all, Lucy was truly having a pretty bad day. She had not gotten the high grade she felt she deserved on her science project; her very best friend was going to spend the night (but at someone else’s house); she couldn’t find the library book that was due yesterday…yes, Lucy was having a rotten day!
The worst problem though was that it was going to be Lucy’s birthday soon. Now that doesn’t sound like much of a problem, but it certainly seemed so to Lucy. Her birthday was on Christmas. Of all the days of the year, why did she have to be born on that day – that school holiday! That even messed up any plans that Lucy could have made for a birthday party because everyone was going to spend that day with their own families. To make matters even worse, Lucy never got any birthday presents, no never! All she ever got was Christmas presents.
But all of Lucy’s problems were soon going to end. One day in December, Lucy stops thinking about herself long enough to give someone else the best birthday present ever!
“Look Mom!” Lucy shrieked excitedly as she slid into the tiny kitchen. “Look! It’s snowing and it’s really coming down hard! I’m going outside to sled.” Then, with her excitement quickly changing to complaining, Lucy whined, “Oh what’s the use? My sled is too old. The paint is all chipped off and it doesn’t even go very fast anymore.” Suddenly a new thought popped into Lucy’s head and she became very excited once more. “Wouldn’t it be just great if I could get a brand new sled for my birthday? Mom…Mom?”
Lucy was getting impatient very quickly. She was excited about the snow and the prospect of a birthday present. She wanted someone to share that excitement with her, but at that particular moment, Lucy’s mother was not paying her the least bit of attention.
“Not now Lucy,” her mother said quietly. “I’m trying to get some baking done for Christmas. How would you like to help me make some cookies for the neighbors?” She began talking to herself, “Let’s see, chocolate chips for the Chambers, gingerbread men for…”
Lucy was so mad that she didn’t even hear the last part of her mother’s sentence. She went outside, making sure that the screen door slammed noisily behind her, then sat down angrily on the porch steps. “Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. Is that all that everyone can think about? What about my birthday?” Lucy sighed sadly then continued. “Christmas is just another school holiday, but I was born on that day. Nobody cares though – oh I’d rather go to school!”
Not even noticing that there was no one present to hear her grumbling, Lucy got up, grabbed the rope to her sled and stormed off down the street. She very angrily made several attempts to kick at anything that got in her way, even the neighbor’s cat, which hissed at Lucy as she passed by.
Suddenly Lucy’s angry stomps began to slow as she found herself in front of an old broken-down house at the end of the road. The house had been empty for as long as Lucy could remember, so imagine her surprise when she saw a faint light inside and thought she saw someone moving about. She gasped as the sled she had been pulling along hit her ankles and startled her. She had now come to a complete stop in the street and just stood there staring open-mouthed. Rather quietly Lucy found herself saying “I didn’t know anybody lived in that old house.” Then louder and more confidently she stated “I’m going to find out what’s going on here.”
As you can probably imagine, Lucy had never been known for her tact, and this day was certainly no exception. Bravely, yet quietly, she sneaked up to the old house to find a window to peek through, completely forgetting all of her problems, as well as her sled which she just left sitting in the street.
Was Lucy ever in for a shock when she heard an excited voice say, “Who’s there? Is someone there?”
That same shock sent Lucy sprawling into a bush beside the front porch, and any fear that she may have felt was immediately replaced by her quick temper. As she stood to brush the snow off of her clothes, she heard the voice again. “Oh, I do hope that’s some of the neighbors coming to visit! Hello?”
Indignantly, Lucy stepped away from the house and demanded, “What are you doing here?”
The kind-looking old woman that now stood on the porch laughed slightly and answered, “Well, good evening to you too.”
Lucy’s impatience showed through as she demanded once more, a little louder this time. “I said what are you doing here?” Then, proud of herself for being so brave, she just stood back with her arms folded, waiting for an answer.
“I live here little girl…” began the old woman.
Lucy quickly interrupted her, almost shouting, “I’m not a little girl! I’ll be eight years old tomorrow!”
The old woman, not disturbed in the least by Lucy’s lack of respect, answered back, “Tomorrow? That’s Christmas!”
If Lucy hadn’t been mad before, she was steaming hot now and was quick to let her feelings be known on the rather sore subject of Christmas. “No it’s not, it’s my birthday!”
By this time the old woman had walked to the edge of the porch and offered to help Lucy up the steps. Of course Lucy rejected the offer and stomped up all by herself. Then she just stood there glaring at the old woman as if daring her to mention that day one more time. The old woman broke the icy silence and said “Your birthday? How very wonderful! Why don’t you come in?”
Once more proving how rude she could be, Lucy immediately pushed her way past the old woman and into the house. Having done that, she turned and said, quite emphatically, “Yes, my birthday! I’m going to be eight years old.”
This brought a surprising chuckle to the old woman’s lips as she said, “Eight years, eh? It’s been quite a long time since I was eight years old.”
Lucy murmured absently as she was looking all around, “It…sure…has.” Then, having checked out everything to her satisfaction she asked “Do you live here all by yourself?”
This question immediately brought an air of sadness to the woman as she nodded her head slowly and replied “Yes, I’m by myself now. It does get rather lonely sometimes, I’ve been used to such a large family.” Turning to Lucy, and her mood beginning to brighten somewhat, the old woman asked, “Do you live nearby?”
Lucy, always ready to talk about herself, quickly replied. “Just down the street a little ways. But I don’t have a big family – just me and my mom and dad. That’s all, nobody else.” With that said, Lucy’s resentment about her birthday and how unfairly she thought she’d been treated by being born on Christmas began to resurface. “Now don’t you think that with just us three that somebody would remember my birthday? Don’t you?” She paused and looked at the old woman, but only momentarily before starting again. “No, that’s not the way it is, it’s Christmas! What’s so special about Christmas anyway? What is so great about Santa Claus coming down the chimney with a bag of dumb old presents and candy?” She paused for effect and then answered her own question in a disgusted manner. “Not birthday presents, only Christmas pres
ents. There is a difference you know!” By this time, Lucy was quite out of breath, but was very satisfied that she seemed to have gotten her point across. She looked at the old woman intensely while waiting for her to agree completely.
She felt very confident when the old woman began to speak. “I should say there is a difference, but you should feel glad, not sad. You share a birthday with someone very special!”
When she heard that, Lucy thought she was finally able to see why there was a problem on her birthday. She asked anxiously, “You mean Santa Claus’s birthday is on December 25th too? Is that the reason I don’t get any birthday presents? Is he jealous?”
“Oh no, you don’t understand.” The old woman looked at Lucy. “The special someone that shares your birthday is Jesus Christ!”
Lucy’s contempt rose again as she said rudely, “Who is that? I thought you said he was special – well, I’ve never heard of him.”
The old woman’s face seemed to take on a dismayed expression as she said, “How very sad. You mean no one has ever told you about Jesus? Don’t you and your family go to church?”
Lucy almost laughed out loud at the old woman’s questions and stated