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When Catherine Scott was a little girl,
money was very tight, especially right after her father was
ordained as a minister. ???My mother often reached the end of
her grocery money long before the end of the month,???
Catherine says. ???She used to send me into my father??™s
closet to go through the pockets of his pants and coats.
Since he was very absent-minded, I often found money during
these treasure hunts.??? Somehow, it was always enough.
There was one place, however, where neither Catherine nor
her mother would search---the Reverend??™s bottom dresser
drawer. That was where he put the contents of the church??™s
???poor box,??? money parishioners gave to aid the neediest
among them. Catherine knew she and her mother were never to
take anything from that box, even though they too were
sometimes poor.
One day when she was about five, she heard her mother
crying. ???Mama, what??™s wrong???? Catherine found her mother
sitting on her bed staring at the bottom dresser drawer.
???Nothing, sweetheart.??? Catherine??™s mother hastily wiped her
cheeks. But despite her young age, Catherine understood.
There was money in the drawer, no doubt enough to feed
them. But Mama couldn??™t use it. That money belonged to the
church.
???I can go through Papa??™s pockets
again,??? Catherine suggested. Her mother smiled wanly, and
Catherine started a search. But today there was nothing to
find, even though Catherine looked carefully in every one of
her father??™s garments.
???I could sense my mother??™s desperation,??? Catherine says,
???but I wasn??™t afraid. Perhaps I was too young to know how
serious the situation was. But I did remind her that we
still had some Cheerios left, and my brother and I could eat
that if nothing else turned up.???
Catherine??™s mother did not seem
especially cheered by this revelation. But within minutes,
the back doorbell rang.
Catherine was usually not permitted to answer a doorbell
alone. But right now her father was working, her brother at
school, and her mother trying to repair her tear-streaked
face, so the little girl was alone when she opened the
door. A man in badly worn jeans was standing there.
???Is your daddy home???? he asked Catherine. She shook her
head. The man squatted down in front of her and handed her
a battered envelope. ???Your daddy gave me a school desk
several years ago,??? he explained. ???There??™s money inside
here to pay for the desk.??? Catherine noticed his warm
smile. And his eyes seemed to twinkle too. ???Hurry up and
take this to your Mama,??? he told Catherine. She closed the
door, and did what he had told her.
Her mother opened the envelope. There was a five-dollar bill
inside. ???In those days, five dollars was more than enough
to get us to the end of the month,??? Catherine says, ???so my
mother was extremely grateful. She did not remember the
desk or the incident, but felt certain that my father
would.???
But later, Catherine??™s father was sure that Catherine had
gotten the details mixed up, and he questioned her over and
over again. Who was this stranger? The Reverend had no
idea. ???He actually had given a old school desk to a poor
family many years ago, but that had happened in New Jersey,
and we now lived in Illinois,??? Catherine says. ???Why, after
fifteen years, would a man travel 1000 miles to return money
he had never been asked to repay?
Catherine??™s family never discovered who the man really was.
But like angels, his timing was perfect.
Joan Wester-Anderson
joan @ joanwanderson.com
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May your day be blessed
Bob Johnston |
