Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas! Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of
Wisdom"! Please follow along through Christmas day as each post shares heartfelt
stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
AND BEST OF ALL ... there's also a giveaway!!!! Fill out the quick form at
the link located at the bottom of this post to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE,
BRACELET AND EARRINGS! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us
all.
~~~
An Unforgettable Gift
by Karen O'Connor
On Christmas morning, 1912, in Paducah, Kentucky, fourteen-year-old Charlie Flowers
and his three brothers and two sisters huddled in their beds, fully dressed, trying to keep
warm as the wind howled outside their small frame house.
It was a desperate time for the family. Earlier that year the children's father had died. And
their mother had not found work. The coal had run out and there was little money––none
for gifts. Their scrawny tree with decorations made from scraps of colored paper had
been given to them the night before by a local merchant.
"Can't sell this one," the man said with a nod of his head before handing it over to the
eager children.
To pass the time, the siblings joked and shouted stories from their bedrooms across the
hallway from one another. Then suddenly a racket from the alley at the rear of the house
broke into their games.
"Charlie," his mother called, "would you see what's going on out there?"
Charlie pulled on his shoes, grabbed a thick overcoat from the hook by the door, and ran
out back.
There stood a man in a wagon bent over a load of coal, shoveling it into the shed as fast
as he could.
"Hey Mister, we didn't order any coal," Charlie shouted. "You're delivering it to the
wrong house."
"Your name's Flowers, isn't it?" the man asked, still shoveling.
Charlie nodded yes.
"Well then, there's no mistake. I've been asked to deliver this to your family on
Christmas morning." He looked the awe-struck boy square in the eye. "And I'm under
strict orders not to tell who sent it," he teased.
Charlie ran into the house, his coattail flapping in the cold morning wind. He
could hardly wait to tell his mother and brothers and sisters. God had provided––just as
he had on that first Christmas morning so long ago when He sent his only son to a needy
world.
Charlie Flowers died in 1994 at age 96. And right up to the last year of his life, not a
Christmas went by that he didn't tell the story of that sub-zero Christmas morning of his
boyhood when two men gave his family an unforgettable gift.
It wasn't the coal that was remembered or cherished, Charlie often said––welcome as
it was––but rather what two men brought to his desperate family. One, for his gift of
recognizing their great need and taking the time to do something about it. And the other,
for being willing to give up part of his own Christmas morning to deliver it.
That gift of so long ago has continued to warm the Flowers family from one generation to
another, as Charlie's son––my husband, Charles––calls to mind these two unknown men
each Christmas morning and whispers a prayer of thanks.
~~~
~~~
A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day.
All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS
QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com) on
New Years Day!
12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more
information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
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