The Christmas season evokes many thoughts and memories. I remember the memory of the Christmas my sister, Carole, found a cockatiel in the pet store and instantly made it the gift she wanted most. When she told Mom and Dad she had seen what she wanted, Dad didn’t think it was a good idea. “It’s the only thing I want for Christmas,” she passionately pleaded. But my sister didn’t give up. She somehow talked Dad into going to the pet store to see the bird. Carole walked straight to the cage where her prize bird sat with a group of other birds. How did she recognize him so quickly? He was the only bird with a crippled foot.
“Why would you want a crippled bird?” Dad asked her. Carole responded, “Because he’s just special!” Guess what my sister got for Christmas? Yes, the special cockatiel. She named him Pete. His speech lessons started right away. The first thing Carole taught him to say was, “Pretty Carole.” Often he would call out, “Pretty Carole, Pretty Carole, Pretty Carole.” Pete sang himself into the heart of the whole family.
A few years later, Mother got up early and noticed no good morning songs were flowing from Pete’s cage. Dad had become so attached to Pete that Mother dreaded telling him the sad news. When Dad got up, Mother tenderly told him, “Pete has gone to bird heaven. He didn’t have time to say good-bye.” Mother had already taken care of the burial service. Who would have thought that a little crippled bird could have made such an impact in the lives of those around him?
Do you ever wonder if you’re making a difference in anyone else’s life? I think this is an inner desire of everyone. Count me in that number. If God can show warmth and love through a little cockatiel, how much more can extraordinary God fulfill His purposes through ordinary people? God sent His Son to live among us to show us the way to love and make a difference in the lives of others. What a gift!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16 NIV)
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