December 25, 2020
A Christmas Story... (Written by Lisa A. Fallon – 2020)
As the pastor was reading scripture from the bible to his congregation that Christmas morning, a little girl all dressed up in a pretty little white dress with lots of ribbons, that her grandma had made for her, left her mother’s side where she was sitting and went up to where he was preaching and sat down at his feet.
She looked up at him and asked him “are you “GOD”?”
He looked at her and said, “no I am not, but I am a man of GOD and I love preaching his words.” She thought about this for a minute and then asked him, “do you know where to find GOD?”
To this he told her, “why GOD is all around us, he is everywhere but most importantly he lives in your heart.”
To this she replied, “but my daddy says that GOD lives in Heaven and that he is going to live with him soon. Is that very far away, because I don’t want my daddy to live that far away from me?”
To this, the pastor was taken back just a bit, and the congregation was very quiet, anxiously waiting to hear his response to the little girl.
“Well,” he said to the little girl looking up to him with big, brown, sad eyes. Her mother had placed a big, beautiful white bow in her long, brown wavy hair that morning for her. She wanted to look extra special that morning because she was on a mission.
He thought very carefully about his response to this little girl, looking to him for an answer to this very important question she had thought about all week.
“You see, Heaven is such a beautiful, loving place to go and live because when GOD thinks that you have lived on earth for a long enough time, and he knows that you have lived your life the best that you can, and he sees that you have made other people happy and you were kind, then he knows it is time for you to come live with him to help him keep Heaven a beautiful place to live.”
The little girl looking down at her newly polished black patent leather shoes, pondered about this answer for a minute or so, while the congregation held their breaths.
She thought about his answer and then stated, “but my daddy did curse sometimes while he was out driving, and he forgot to pick me up from school one day, and he washed my favorite pink teddy bear without my permission, so does that make him o.k. to just continue living in our home with us?”
To this question, the pastor asked her, “well, is your daddy living his best life?” To this question she answered, “I think so, lately though he has been very tired and hasn’t played with me that much.”
The pastor then asked her, “does your daddy make you and your family happy?”
To this she answered, “oh yes! Daddy is the funniest person I know! He always makes me giggle and likes to tickle me and make funny noises! Except the last few days, he has been very quiet and hasn’t made me laugh that much.”
The pastor sensing her exasperation with these questions asked her one more. “Is your daddy kind?” With no hesitation in her answer this time, she replied, “oh yes,” with tears in her eyes, “he is very kind. He tells us that he loves me and my baby brother and my mommy very, very much! He tells us this all day long, every day! Today though, he was a lot quieter when he told us, and he was out of breath a lot.”
She then asked the pastor, “does GOD really want my daddy to come live in Heaven with him?”
The pastor again, stricken with such compassion for this little girl, thought about his answer before replying.
“Well, it sounds to me like your daddy has lived a very good life, that he made you, your little brother, and your mom very happy and that he is a very kind person. It also sounds like your daddy is too tired to be able to live in your home with you any longer. And I think that GOD needs a daddy like yours to help him keep Heaven a beautiful, loving place to live.”
The little girl deep in thought then asked, “but will we be able to visit daddy in Heaven?”
To this question the pastor replied, ”you will be able to visit your daddy in your heart, where GOD will answer for you, and let you know how he is doing there.”
She then asked, “will I move to Heaven one day?”
The pastor replied, “When you have lived your best life, and you have made other people happy and that you were kind too, then yes, you can go live with him there one day too!”
The little girl still sitting at the pulpit by his feet, took a very long time in her thinking about all of this.
She looked up from sitting on the carpeted pulpit, with her pink teddy bear, who also happened to have a big white bow on his head, in her hand. She looked at her daddy whose tears were streaming down his face, sitting in the front row, next to her baby brother and her mom and said to him, “okie-dokie then, I think Heaven will be a very nice home for you, daddy to go live in, until we can come live with you there.”
To this, there was not a dry eye in the entire congregation.
Go live your “one” best life possible. Be happy, make others happy and be kind, so that one day you can sit beside GOD in his house and make it a wonderful place to live too.
Author, Lisa A. Fallon, 2020
