Devotions

I remember early childhood days

when my four sisters and I would

set out cookies and milk for Santa.

We had a special cup for the milk—

a round, jolly Santa-face cup.

In the process of us all growing up,

the Santa cup ended up

down in the cellar.

I remember fetching canned goods

and seeing his cheery face among the cobwebs.

When my parents died and my sisters

and I divvied up their stuff

I kept my eye out for the Santa cup,

but he was nowhere to be found

and no one knew what happened to him.

Years later, in an antique shop,

I spied a Santa cup just like my old one.

“How much?” I asked.

“A dollar,” the shop owner replied.

It was worth more than that to me.

Santa sat cheerily on my office shelf,

but we needed an extra bedroom.

Like his predecessor, he was sent to storage.

Years later, when our crawl space flooded,

he showed his cheery face again.

The Santa cup holds

a place of honor in my office,

not because I like the Santa myth,

but because he holds

fond childhood memories.

He’s Big Enough

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3

It’s odd, though I don’t frequent antique shops and I’m not too wild about the whole thing about Santa Clause, because I feel it distracts from the real message of Christmas, I think that God had me walk in that antique store and find the cup. It wasn’t the same one, I’m sure, since I found it in Colorado, not Pennsylvania where I grew up. I suppose, by some miracle God could have gotten it there for me. I’ve heard of Him doing things like that. But I’m assuming that wasn’t the case. And there’s no way of knowing. It had no special mark to distinguish it. But I think the Lord had a hand in me finding it. The scripture said if you delight in Him, He will give you the desires of your heart, and He knew I wanted that Santa cup. Does He care about Santa cups? Perhaps not, but He cares about me. And one thing I learned in my fifty years of serving Him, He’s big enough to care for small things.

Sometime we may not place enough value on the things we do or create. It might be just a painting, a favor, or taking flowers to an elderly friend, but God sees how these things affect us and our emotions. And I believe as we yield ourselves to Him, His Spirit flows through our minds and fingers and anoints the things we do and create to be a blessing to someone else.

The scripture says all Christians play a part in the body of Christ. It’s specifically talking about spiritual gifts, however, whether we are preachers, janitors, teachers, construction workers, writers, artists, or musicians, God can use us in fantastic ways as we surrender to Him. Just like the little boy offered up his five loaves and two fish, Jesus can turn our small offerings into something quite grand.

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, John 6:5-13