In 1942, the year he was fifteen, Matt Miles knew there was no way he would receive the only gift he wanted. Even with his four older siblings living away, with families of their own, money was especially tight that year.
On Christmas Eve, Matt’s dad had him complete his chores early. After finishing the task, he came in, sat in front of the fireplace, and waited for his dad to read the Bible. Mr. Miles soon came in with ice hanging from his beard. He told Matt to bundle up and come outside to help him. The work team was hitched up to the sled, which hinted that this was not going to be a small or simple task. He had Matt help him attach the high sideboards. Then they went to the woodshed and began loading the wood Matt had spent the summer sawing and splitting to prepare for the winter. Curiosity got the best of him and Matt asked his dad what he was doing. Mr. Miles responded that he had driven by the Widow Jensen’s house, who lived about two miles from them, that day. Mr. Jensen had died the year before and left his wife with three young children, with the oldest being eight. One of the sons was trying to take in any scraps of wood he could find to make a fire, but there were no more logs. The boy was wearing gunny sacks, tied around his feet, to try to keep warm. With the wood now loaded high in the sled, Mr. Miles handed a ham and bacon, from the smoke house, for Matt to take to the sled. He came back with a bag of flour and another sack with something in it. When questioned about the smaller sack, Matt found out they were shoes for the children, since they didn’t have any, and a little bit of candy. He didn’t know where his father had found money for those extras.
Upon arrival at the Jensen’s home, they unloaded the wood and then went to the front porch and knocked on the door. When the door opened, they could see Mrs. Jensen and the three children wrapped in blankets, trying to stay warm. Mr. Miles immediately had Matt bring in wood and start a fire. After giving Mrs. Jensen the food and flour, he gave each child a pair of shoes and a piece of candy. He had them try on the shoes to make sure they fit. Matt was amazed that the shoes fit, but he figured, “If he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.” Mrs. Jensen responded, “God bless you. I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us.” Tears were running down Widow Jensen’s face when they were ready to leave. Mr. Miles hugged all three kids and they did not want him to go. Upon departing, Matt’s dad offered an invitation for them to join their family for Christmas dinner. He then said he would be by at 11:00 to pick them up.
Once they were back in the sled and on their way home, there was silence. After a few minutes, Mr. Miles explained that a man who owed him money, had paid him back that morning. With what he and his wife had been saving, they had enough to buy Miles the rifle he wanted for Christmas. But when he saw Jakey with no shoes, he knew what he had to do. Matt’s eyes filled with tears. “I understood very well, and I was so glad Daddy had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. He had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Mrs. Jensen’s face and the radiant smiles of her three children. For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside my Daddy that night. He had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.”
May we, too, know the joy of giving and experiencing a Christmas of the heart.
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Acts 20:35
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