THE DIME

I am happy to welcome Paula from Paula's Place to Ponder on today's FOCUS Friday. She sent me the heart touching story below. Be sure to get the tissues ready. She writes a very inspirational blog, be sure to stop by and leave her a comment and follow her.

Just as we have struggled in times past and received the help we needed,
so must we repay the favor and extend our hands towards those who are in
need of our help. We should always be conscious to the needs of those
around us and make ourselves available to be the answer to their prayers.
It is a very simple thing to bless someone in need.

THE DIME

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby
didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The
thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of
keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour
already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his
mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, “This is useless,
even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend.”

Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five
had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there
just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the
small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far.

What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made
up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older sisters and one
younger sister, who ran the house hold in their mother's absence. All
three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother.
Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had
nothing.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down
to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six
without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. Bobby walked
from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed
so beautiful and so out of reach.

It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when
suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting
off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny
dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that
moment. As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his
entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement
quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy
anything with only a dime.

He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner
asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could
buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at
Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder
and said to him, “You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you.”
As Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was
a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers. The sound of the
door closing as the last customer left jolted Bobby back to reality. All
alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid.

Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before
Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and
tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart
sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white
box. “That will be ten cents young man.” the shop owner said reaching out
his hand for the dime.

Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true?
No one else would give him a thing for his dime! Sensing the boy's
reluctance, the shop owner added, “I just happened to have some roses on
sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?” This time Bobby did not
hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it
was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he
heard the shop keeper say, “Merry Christmas, son.”

As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked out. “Who were you
talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?”

Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he
replied, “A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting
up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set
aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the
time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then
just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy
a flower for his mother with one small dime. When I looked at him, I saw
myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my
mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on
the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars. When I saw
that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a
dozen of my very best roses.”

The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped
out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all..

May this story instill the spirit of Christmas in you enough to pass this
loving act along.

Have a Joyous and Peace-filled season.

Author Unknown

Read and meditate on this scripture: Romans 12:15-17 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”