On the 9th Day of Christmas Past,
Question: In what unexpected way did the Lord bless this family with a Christmas dinner during the Great Depression?
To be entered into today’s daily giveaway & FREE tour drawing- Read the story below; “Comment” & “Share” your answer on Facebook or our blog. Click Here for contest rules.
“Christmas Geese”
“The black clouds were gathering as I stepped out of our winter shelter. The temperature had dropped a good 30 degrees in a few short hours, a sure sign the first big snow storm of the season was blowing in from Canada. Papa was waiting for us. “Hurry and change your clothes, boys, we’ve got a lot of work to do before the storm hits.”
As I worked my mind went back to what it always seemed to lately. Ever since I’d overheard Mama and Papa discussing the bleak outlook for Christmas, I just couldn’t catch the spirit. Not because I thought I was going to get anything, we never did give one another gifts. But Christmas dinner had always been Mama’s gift to the family, and I felt bad for Mama. Every other day of the year, we ate beans, potatoes and bread, but on Christmas Mama always came up with something special which was the most welcome gift we could receive. I knew she felt she would be letting us down if she didn’t work her magic again this year.
But coming up with a special dinner this year would require some real magic. Papa and done his best to make something of our farm in Utah, but the Depression and bad luck left us penniless. He heard there was land in Northern Montana that could be leased with an option to buy so he loaded Mama’s kitchen and his 10 children and we headed north.
When we got back to the house, we were greeted by Mama’s handiwork. She had spend the entire day trying to bring a little Christmas spirit to the stick house. She had strung long strands of popcorn from corner to stove pipe to corner, and trimmed a small pine tree with painted pine cones. It wasn’t much, but to us kids, it transformed two old boxcars into a home.
One of my brothers asked, “Why is Mama so upset?” I realized then that I was not the only one who felt that Mama was upset. “How would you like to try to feed 10 children a Christmas dinner with nothing but suet pudding and potatoes?” I answered him.
Later that night the storm hit with 60-mile-per-hour winds. We milked the cows by lantern light, bedded them down and pushed our way back through the howling blizzard back to the house.
Inside Mama was bent over the old Monarch stove fixing dinner. I couldn’t help but think how much she looked like an angel who had dedicated herself to her family. Papa put his arms around her and quietly reassured her, “Don’t worry Mary, things will work out.” She managed a half-smile, then turned and wiped tears from her eyes.
All through the night and the next day, the blizzard continued with only momentary rests. By Christmas Eve the temperatures had plummeted to 35 degrees below zero. Mama heated flatirons on the stove, and bricks and stones in the oven to tuck into our beds to keep us warm. I reached up and hugged her tightly around the neck. “Don’t worry, Mama we don’t need much to eat.” She looked at me, smiled that tender smile of hers and replied, “Now don’t worry, son, Heavenly Father is aware of our needs.”
I was just about asleep when I heard a loud thud against the side of the house, followed immediately by another. The house shook and shuddered so much when the wind blew, I was sure something had blown off.
The next morning I was awakened by Papa’s voice. “Come on, boys, let’s get the chores done, then we can come in for Christmas.” I remembered the thuds and ran outside and to see what had happened. I stopped short. My mouth fell open. The thuds were made by two Canadian Geese blinded by the blizzard. I grabbed them up and slid around the corner of the house yelling at the top of my voice. I almost ran head-on into my older brother coming the other direction. Again my mouth fell open, for he, too was holding two geese, followed by Papa with one more. I turned to run to the house but Papa’s big hands brought me to a stop. “Wait just a minute son, I’ve got an idea.”
We hurried through the chores, then cleaned the geese. Each of us sneaked to the kitchen and placed a goose on the table while Mama was in the living room. We tried everything we could think of to get Mama to go into the kitchen but she just wasn’t getting the hint. I was ready to burst but the glare from my brother kept me quiet.
Finally she went into the kitchen and exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, Arthur! Where on Earth? How did you?…” Papa’s eyes were twinkling as if he were Old St. Nick himself. “Merry Christmas from heaven!” he said.
To this day, almost 50 years later, I still remember how wonderful it felt as we sat around the table that day, warmed by the knowledge that there is a Heavenly Father who is aware of our needs and with that love and faith there was no poverty.”
Recent Comments