Christmas Cotton Balls by Elaine Marie Cooper

  When I was a child, Christmas was always the time to bring out cotton balls. These soft white puffs were not meant to decorate. Instead, they became our mother’s way of teaching us a spiritual lesson.
 
  She would sit all six of us kids down after Thanksgiving and give instructions. Each cotton ball would mean a kindness done in secret. Only God would know what good deed we had done.
 
  Whenever we did something helpful or nice to someone, we would make sure no one was watching, and then take one cotton ball from the box and put it in a glass jar that Mom placed in the living room.
 
  Well, in a family of five older (and sometimes sneaky!) siblings, it was often difficult for me to insert the cotton ball without anyone noticing. It took some skill for me to only let God see my good deeds.  But I tried as hard as I could.
 
  The amazing part was watching the large jar slowly fill with puffs of cotton balls. Were we that good, I wondered? Hopefully God would think so.

  The culmination of the Christmas cotton balls occurred on Christmas Eve. Mom gathered everyone around and ceremoniously opened the jar that was chock full of softness. Prior to this evening, the Nativity crèche beneath the tree contained Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds. This night was when Jesus was born and He would be added to the Holy Family.
 
  Mom took the bundle of cotton balls and laid them in between Mary and Joseph. Then she gently placed the statue of Jesus atop the soft pile. We watched in wonder as Mom explained that our good deeds and kindnesses were a token to Jesus of our love for Him. It was a visual reminder that we had served God by giving to others.
 
   I’ll always be grateful to Mom for showing us in a visual way that a child could understand that what is done for others is really done for God. Thanks, Mom.
 
   The crèche and statue of Baby Jesus has now been handed down to the next generation. I pray that believing in Jesus will be carried on as well.
 
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” Matthew 6:3 NIV

Award winning author Elaine Marie Cooper is the author of Saratoga Letters, Fields of the Fatherless, Bethany’s Calendar and the historical trilogy called the Deer Run Saga. She has been captivated by the history of the American Revolution since she was young. She grew up in Massachusetts, the setting for many of her historical novels.
 
You can read more at her website/blog, www.elainemariecooper.com

Read my review of Fields of the Fatherless.