Life Under the Grocery Bag
Christmas morning has to be one of my favorite childhood memories. My father developed quite a detailed plan for Christmas mornings. I often heard my friends tell how they would jump out of bed at daybreak, run to the living room and start tearing into the multitude of presents there. No such luck for my brothers and me! At our house things were done in a much more dignified and orderly way!
Each Christmas my parents filled a stocking for each of their three children. It usually contained some candy, a big navel orange and a red delicious apple. Some years we received a tangerine too which was an extra special treat. Besides the stocking they purchased one main gift for each child. This was typically a toy or gadget that we had particularly asked for. They never wrapped this item, but propped it in plain sight right under the Christmas tree.
However this presented a problem… my older brothers and I had our bedrooms on the second floor of our little house. The staircase descended directly into the living room. And my parents wanted us to eat breakfast in the kitchen before gift-opening. So my dad got the bright idea of blind-folding us to lead us down the steps, through the living room and into the kitchen. Most years he just plunked a brown paper bag over our heads and led us down one by one. Oh the excitement, knowing we were so close to our special gift, but not yet allowed to see it!
We ate breakfast, washed and dried the dishes (of course we had no dishwasher!) and then waited in our den while my father went to pick up my grandparents who would join us for the morning. This caused about a half hour delay. We thought he’d never return!
When he arrived home with Grandpa and Grandma, they joined us in that tiny room for the traditional reading of the Christmas story. Then all the grown-ups would require us kids to wait in the den, while they settled themselves comfortably in the living room.
FINALLY… they’d call to us, giving permission to enter the room! What a thrill as we would fly into that room and see immediately the gift that had been purchased just for us!
Funny…as I think back, I remember only a few of those presents. What I remember with greatest fondness is the joy of holding my father’s hand and just letting him lead me… knowing that in his own good time, all the wonderful gifts would be revealed!
I Corinthians 2:9& 10 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” I know my heavenly Father has glorious surprises in store for me: incredible answers to prayer, amazing lessons to be learned, fantastic experiences still ahead. Some are just around the corner. Some are farther along in this waiting game called life. But I know He’ll reveal them at just the right time! After all, that’s what faith is: believing what you don’t see yet. For now, it’s as though He gently leads me from one wonderful blessing to the next with a brown paper bag over my head. But that’s okay… because I think maybe the best part after all, is just holding His hand!