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       #Post#: 92--------------------------------------------------
       Motivational Story Titled: A LESSON
       By: lastdayschristians Date: November 27, 2012, 11:44 am
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       We were the only family with children in
       the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair
       and noticed everyone was quietly eating
       and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and
       said, "Hi there." He pounded his fat baby hands on the
       highchair tray. His eyes were wide with
       excitement and his mouth was bared in a
       toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled
       with merriment. I looked around and saw
       the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of
       a coat; dirty, greasy
       and worn. His pants were baggy with a
       zipper at half-mast and his toes poked
       out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty
       and his hair was uncombed and
       unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard, and
       his nose was so
       varicose it looked like a road map. We
       were too far from him to smell, but I was
       sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose
       wrists. "Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I
       see ya, buster," the man said to Erik. My husband and I
       exchanged looks, "What
       do we do?" Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi,
       hi there." Everyone in the restaurant
       noticed and looked at us and at the man.
       The old geezer was creating a nuisance
       with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began
       shouting from across the room, "Do ya
       know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-
       boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo." Nobody thought the old man
       was cute. He
       was obviously drunk. My husband and I
       were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all
       except for Erik, who was running through
       his repertoire for the admiring skid-row
       bum, who, in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments. We
       finally got through the meal and
       headed for the door. My husband went to
       pay the check and told me to meet him in
       the parking lot. The old man sat poised between the door
       and me. "Lord, just let me out of here
       before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer to
       the man, I turned my
       back trying to sidestep him and avoid any
       air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik
       leaned over my arm, reaching with both
       arms in a baby's "pick-me-up" position.
       Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms
       to the
       man's. Suddenly, a very old, smelly man
       and a very young baby consummated their
       love relationship. Erik, in an act of total
       trust, love, and submission laid his tiny
       head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and
       I saw tears
       hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands
       full of grime, pain, and hard labor --
       gently, so gently, cradled my baby's
       bottom and stroked his back. No two
       beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood
       awestruck. The old man rocked
       and cradled Erik in his arms for a
       moment, and then his eyes opened and
       set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You
       take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a
       throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest -
       unwillingly,
       longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and
       the man said,
       "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me
       my Christmas gift." I said nothing more than muttered
       thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the
       car. My husband was wondering why I was
       crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why
       I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive
       me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown
       through the innocence of a tiny child who
       saw no sin, who made no judgment, a
       child who saw a soul, and a mother who
       saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian
       who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God
       asking - "Are you willing
       to share your son for a moment?" - when
       He shared His for all eternity. The ragged
       old man, unwittingly, had reminded me,
       "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must
       become as little children." Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
       thyself.
       - Matthew 22:39
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