Resources - Children's Pages

December  1999

A Surprise for Christmas

 

Mrs. Anne Groenenboom
 

“Mum, are we going to invite anyone for Christmas?” Amy asked.

“I’m not sure, Amy. I’d like to invite some of our friends but we don’t have much money.”

The children nodded. There had been things to buy for the new baby and the hot water service had broken down again, so Mum and Dad had to buy a new one. Amy thought it wasn’t fair, something like that happening just before Christmas, but she didn’t say anything because Mum disliked them complaining that things weren’t fair.

“It’s only seven weeks until the baby is due. Your mother has been feeling very tired lately so maybe we need to have a quiet Christmas by ourselves,” Dad told them.

Chris and Amy looked at each other. It sounded as if Christmas wasn’t going to be much fun, this year.

“Christmas is a special time... I’d love to celebrate it with all the people who have become part of our church family... the Jacksons and the Willmans and the Briggs family... and the Harrisons too, but we haven’t enough money to buy food for everyone... so maybe we’d better forget it.” Mum said sadly.

“Couldn’t we ask them to bring something to share, like we do at church?” Chris asked. “That would be easier for Mum and it wouldn’t cost as much.”
“That’s a good idea, Chris,” Mum commented. “I’m sure we can do it if you help me. We’ll talk about it after dinner.”

The children chattered excitedly as they helped Dad get dinner ready while Mum bathed Carla. After dinner Chris and Amy washed up, while Dad put Carla to bed and Mum rested.

At last it was time to make some plans. Dad wrote down all the names and counted them.

“Counting us, that’s more than twenty people!” Amy gasped.

“It will be quite a bit of work, but we have almost two weeks to get ready and we can manage if everyone helps,” Mum said.

Dad looked at Chris and Amy. “I’ll be at work, so you two will have to help your mother. Do you think you can?” Amy and Chris nodded eagerly.

“We could ask each family to bring some meat and dessert and Chris and Amy could help me make the salads.” Mum suggested.

“But what are we going to do about Carla?” Chris asked. “She always wants to do what we’re doing and she’s too little to help, isn’t she?”

Mum nodded and thought for a minute. “She can make Christmas decorations and gift tags, if we take turns to help her... and I can read her stories while I have a rest.”

“She can go next door to play with Sharni sometimes,” Dad commented.

The next day the children helped Mum make invitations and they also made a list of things they would need for the salads. Mum wanted to make biscuits as Christmas gifts, so Chris and Amy took turns to help her. Carla helped too, because Mum showed her how to cut the biscuit dough into Christmas shapes, with special cookie cutters. Chris washed some big coffee jars, ready for the biscuits, while Amy and Carla made gift tags. When the biscuits were cool, Mum put them into the jars. They trimmed the jars with tinsel ribbon and tied the cards in place.

“I’m glad that’s done,” Mum said “You’ve all been a great help.”

The next few days Chris and Amy helped Mum around the house and Mum had a rest each afternoon. On Friday Mum had to go to the doctor for a checkup so she dropped Chris, Amy and Carla at the library for the special holiday program. There were lots of fun things for them to do and it didn’t seem very long before Mum came back to collect them. Chris noticed that his mother looked very pale and he thought she must be tired. As soon as they were home, he and Amy got some lunch ready for themselves and Carla, while Mum had a rest.

After lunch, Mum asked Chris to take Carla next door, to play with Sharni. When he came back, Mum was on the phone and he noticed that she was crying. He hurried into the kitchen to see if Amy knew what was wrong, but Amy didn’t know either.

“Chris, Amy, come here please,” Mum called and they raced in to see what was wrong.

“Doctor Patterson says I have to go to hospital today. He thinks our baby is almost ready to be born.”

“But Mum, it’s only a week until Christmas!” Amy wailed. Tears rolled down Mum’s cheeks.

“I know, Amy, but it can’t be helped. Your father will be home soon, to take me to the hospital. You’ll be staying with the Jacksons too.”

Soon Dad was home and he helped them pack some clothes for overnight. They prayed together, then the children hugged their mother tightly and waved goodbye as Dad backed the car out of the driveway. They were both close to tears as they followed Mrs Jackson next door. Dad phoned after dinner, to see how they were and reassured them that everything was all right, but they still felt miserable. There was great excitement however, when Dad came home next morning with the news that they had a baby brother, whose name was Joel.

“He’s fairly small, but he’s healthy and your mother is OK, so God has answered our prayers,” Dad told them. “We can go to the hospital to see them both later.”

”Who does Joel look like?” Amy wanted to know and Chris was pleased when Dad replied,

“At present he looks a bit like Chris... but it’s hard to tell while he’s so tiny.”

The children were very relieved to see their mother looking much better and Carla wanted a big cuddle. Chris and Amy were impatient to see the baby, but he was sound asleep in his bassinet beside Mum’s bed, so all they could see was the top of his head. He soon started to wake up, making little snuffling noises. When he began to cry, Dad picked him up and gave him to Mum, while the children crowded round to meet their new baby brother.

“Welcome, little Christmas baby!” Amy whispered as she kissed Joel’s soft, dark hair.

On the way home again, Chris asked the question that had been worrying him all morning, “What’s going to happen about our Christmas lunch, Dad? We’ve already invited all those people, but Mum won’t be home, will she?”

“I’m sure she’ll be home by next Saturday... that’s a whole week away, yet... but we may have to cancel the lunch, depending on how your mother feels. She’ll probably still be very tired.” Although the children were disappointed, they realised they couldn’t expect Mum to get everything ready, even if they helped. However, when Dad spoke to Mrs Jackson about it, Mrs Jackson offered to get everything ready, so that the lunch could go ahead.

“Chris and Amy can help me, instead of their mother.

When Mum came home from hospital a few days later, Dad told her not to worry, because everything was under control. Each day Chris and Amy did what they could to help Mum and then they helped Mrs Jackson get things ready for Christmas Day. Mum looked after Joel and slept the rest of the time.

After church on Christmas Day, Mum sat in a big, comfortable chair, nursing Joel, while the others looked after her. There were lots of gifts to hand out and there were some lovely presents for Joel as well. Joel slept soundly all through lunch and everyone agreed that the food was delicious. Mum felt embarrassed sitting back while everyone else did the work, but Mr Willman told her not to worry.

“You have done so much to help us when we needed help, so now it’s our turn to help you,” he told Mum and everyone agreed.

“And if you hadn’t told us about Jesus, we wouldn’t have known the real meaning of Christmas,” Mrs Jackson commented. “This the best Christmas we’ve ever had, because every other year, we’ve just been thinking about ourselves.”

“ Let’s give thanks to God for giving us Jesus... the best Christmas present ever!” Dad suggested and they all bowed in prayer together.


SOMETHING TO DO:

As you get ready to celebrate Christmas with your family, try to remember the real reason for Christmas. Don’t just think about it as a time to get presents. Think about what you can do to make Christmas special for others. Think about your friends who don’t know Jesus and pray for them... then talk to them about God’s greatest gift to us.

 

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