Scripture: “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Although my parents were poor, they managed to keep the magic in our Christmas celebrations. Not so my lordly older brother. While I remained blissfully unaware of Santa’s true identity, Mickey smirked at my childish ignorance. He even persuaded our mother to let him fill the Christmas stockings after I was safely asleep, no doubt dreaming of the sweets I would find the next morning.

Giddy with thirteen-year-old power and greed, he put a few candies and nuts in my small stocking and filled his much larger one until it almost burst. On Christmas morning, he would make sure I noticed the difference. “Santa knows who’s been good and bad, who’s been nice and who’s been naughty.” I was sure to accept his explanation. As elder brother, he had convinced me he knew everything.

However, Mom was not above playing a few pranks of her own, particularly to teach her smart-aleck son a lesson. When he went on to bed, she quietly emptied his stocking and refilled it with a different assortment. I still remember his angry shout when, instead of candy and nuts, he found lumps of coal and a smelly onion. “Mother!” With a glance in my direction, she responded with a sweetly innocent smile.

Many years have passed, and Mickey now celebrates his Christmas in heaven. I doubt if stockings are hung on the celestial fireplace, but I know he is being blessed beyond imagination with an abundance of our Heavenly Father’s goodness.

Prayer: Father, thank You for a wise mother who knew how to turn my brother’s greedy plan into a loving memory. Please grant me a measure of her quiet wisdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.