That's what He does

About a week before Christmas, Mom bought a new nativity scene. When
she unpacked it, she found two figures of the Baby Jesus. "Someone must
have packed this wrong," mother said, counting out the figures. "We have
one Joseph, one Mary, three wise men, three shepherds, two lambs, a
donkey, a cow, an angel, and two babies. Oh, dear! I suppose some set down at
the store is missing a Baby Jesus because we have two."

"You two run back down to the store and tell the manager that we
have an extra Jesus. Tell him to put a sign on the remaining boxes saying
that if a set is missing a Baby Jesus, call 7126. Put on your warm coats, it's
freezing cold out there." The manager of the store copied down
mother's message, and the next time we were in the store, we saw the
cardboard sign that read, "If you're missing Baby Jesus, call 7126." All week long
we waited for someone to call. Surely, we thought, someone was missing
that important figurine.

Each time the phone rang, mother would say, "I'll bet that's about
Jesus." But it never was. Father tried to explain there are thousands of
these scattered over the country, and the figurine could be missing from a
set in Florida or Texas or California. Those packing mistakes happen all
the time. He suggested that she just put the extra Jesus back in the box and
forget about it. "Put Baby Jesus back in the box?! What a terrible thing to
do," said mother. "Surely someone will call. We'll just keep the two of
them together in the manger until someone does."

When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, mother insisted that
father "just run down to the store" to see if there were any sets left.
"You can see them right through the window, over on the counter," she said.
"If they are all gone, I'll know someone is bound to call tonight." "Run down
to the store?" father thundered. "It's 15 below zero out there!" "Oh,
Daddy, we'll go with you!"

We began to put on our coats. Father gave a long sigh and headed for
the front closet. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered. We ran
ahead as father reluctantly walked out in the cold. Tommy got to the store
first and pressed his nose up to the store window. "They're all gone, Daddy,"
he shouted. "Every set must be sold. Hooray! The mystery will be solved
tonight!" Father heard the news still a half block away and
immediately turned on his heel and headed back home.

When we got back into the house, we noticed that mother was gone and
so was the extra Baby Jesus figurine. "Someone must have called, and she
went out to deliver the figurine," father reasoned, pulling off his boots.
"You kids get ready for bed while I wrap mother's present."

Then the phone rang. Father yelled "answer the phone and tell 'em we
found a home for Jesus." But it was mother calling with instructions for us
to come to 205 Chestnut Street immediately, and bring three blankets, a box
of cookies and some milk. "Now what has she gotten us into?" father
groaned as we bundled up again. "205 Chestnut. Why that's across town. Wrap
that milk up good in the blankets, or it will turn to ice before we get there.
Why can't we all just get on with Christmas? It's probably 20 below out
there now. And the wind is picking up. Of all the crazy things to do on a
night like this."

When we got to the house at 205 Chestnut Street, it was the darkest
one on the block. Only one tiny light burned in the living room, and the
moment we set foot on the porch steps, mother opened the door and shouted,
"They're here! Oh thank God you got here, Ray! You kids take those blankets
into the living room and wrap up the little ones on the couch. I'll take the
milk and cookies."

"Would you mind telling me what is going on, Ethel?" father asked.
"We have just walked through below zero weather with the wind in our faces
all the way."

"Never mind all that now," mother interrupted. "There is no heat in
this house, and this young mother is so upset, she doesn't know what to
do. Her husband walked out on her, and those poor little children will have
a very bleak Christmas, so don't you complain. I told her you could fix
that oil furnace in a jiffy. My mother strode off to the kitchen to warm the
milk while my brother and I wrapped up the five little children who were
huddled together on the couch.

The children's mother explained to my father that her husband had
run off, taking bedding, clothing, and almost every piece of furniture, but
she had been doing all right until the furnace broke down. "I been doin'
washin' an ironin' for people and cleanin' the five and dime," she said. "I saw
your number every day there, on those boxes on the counter. When the
furnace went out, that number kept goin' through my mind....7162, "Said on the
box that if a person was missin' Jesus, they should call you. That's how I
knew you were good Christian people, willin' to help folks. I figured that
maybe you would help me, too. So I stopped at the grocery store tonight, and I
called your missus. I'm not missin' Jesus, mister, because I sure love the
Lord. But I am missin' heat. I have no money to fix that furnace."

"Okay, okay," said father. "You've come to the right place. Now
let's see.You've got a little oil burner over there in the dining room.
Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Probably just a clogged flue. I'll look it over,
see what it needs."

Mother came into the living room carrying a plate of cookies and
warm milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, I noticed the figure
of Baby Jesus lying in the center of the table. It was the only sign of
Christmas in the house. The children stared wide-eyed with wonder at the plate of
cookies my mother set before them.

Father finally got the oil burner working but said, "You need more
oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes sir, you came to the
right place." Father grinned. On the way home, father did not complain
about the cold weather and had barely set foot inside the door when he was on
the phone. "Ed, hey, how are ya, Ed? Yes, Merry Christmas to you, too.
Say Ed, we have kind of an unusual situation here. I know you've got that
pick-up truck. Do you still have some oil in that barrel on your truck? You
do?" By this time the rest of the family was pulling clothes out of their
closets and toys off of their shelves. It was long after our bedtime when we
were wrapping gifts.

The pickup came. On it were chairs, three lamps, blankets and gifts.
Even though it was 30 below, father let us ride along in the back of the
truck. No one ever did call about the missing figure in the nativity set,
but as I grow older I realize that it wasn't a packing mistake at all. Jesus
saves, that's what He does.