Amy's Honored Guest
A Holiday Story For The Season Of Goodwill
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For a picture of Amy (42Kb) click here......
Once upon a time, in a distant land, a 12 year old girl named Amy lived on a farm where she & her family raised flowers. She helped in the family business by creating beautiful wreaths of dried flowers. They made great gifts! They were intricate & colorful, & their fragrance was like a wonderful garden! Amy was well known for her talent as a wreath-maker, but more important, she was also known for her very generous nature.
In fact, although she didn't realize it, even the Angels knew of her! The Lord-Angel, himself, often spoke of her! He lovingly referring to her, as "My Most Abundantly Amiable Little Amy"!
There was, however, one Angel who was rather put-off� by all this. He was the Angel who kept an
accounting of all the good (& bad ) deeds of every Mortal. His name was Gabby & he'd been the Lord-Angel's Accountant since time began.
What a job! Perhaps he was over-worked and it was THIS, that made him so irritable. No one ever calls ME "Abundantly Amiable", he thought, with a grump.
One day, Gabby decided to go to Amy's Farm to put her "alleged" generosity to the test. He disguised
himself as a very poor� &� sad, old man.�
(In truth, it wasn't that much of a stretch for him!)�
Hearing his knock, Amy peered through a window.� There, on the porch, she saw a little old man with very sad eyes. "What can I do for you?" she asked. "Can I help you?"
"Yes! I think you CAN!", answered Gabby."My home is so dismally poor! My sad little children need
something to add cheer to their lives. I've heard of your wreaths! I feel they'd be just the thing!"
Then, almost casually,� he added, "Of course, I have no money."
Amy saw the terrible sadness in his eyes. This, more than his shabby appearance, made� her decide to help him.
"Wait just a moment!" she said. "I'll be right back!" "Aha!" thought Gabby, "She didn't even invite me in!" But, of course, Amy wasn't SUPPOSED to invite him in. He was a stranger, and her mom had wisely told her NEVER to open the door to strangers.
Amy went to get her Mom, who was in the kitchen.
"Who was that?" asked her mom.
"There's a poor old man out there on the porch.", said Amy. He's asking me to give him a wreath to take home. He wants to add a bit of cheerfulness to the Holiday Season. He has children, Mom, and he
wants to do something to make them happy."
"I see where you're going with this." said her Mom.
"You'll have to pay for the materials out of your own allowance! OK?"�
"I know! That's OK. Puleeeze!"�
"It's your time & money, Amy!"
"Thanks Mom!"
Her Mom smiled at her, for in truth, she admired her daughter's generous spirit.
"Thanks!".....said Amy, smiling back, as they went to let Gabby in.
They opened the door, & Gabby entered.
He looked all around the modest little home, in mock-wonder. (His home was quite grand compared to this.)
"Oh! If my home were like THIS home, my poor little children would say to me, 'Daddy! We feel like we're in Heaven'!".
("I'm quite good at this!" he thought. "Maybe I should
have become an actor!"......and he laughed inside himself at such an amusing idea.)
As Gabby spoke, Amy got a closer look at him. It was his face.. in particular his eyes.. that really moved her.
Gabby went on & on..& on..reeeeally getting into the act, now!
"I wish, with all my heart, I could make my dear little angels smile!" he said.
"You CAN!" Amy blurted out!
Her Mom's head whipped around. She knew that sound in Amy's voice. "Amy's going to pull out all
the stops on this one, she thought."
(And she was right.)
"I'll give up my allowance for as long as it takes!"� Amy turned to Gabby, joyfully....
"TAKE ALL THE WREATHS YOU CAN CARRY!"
Her Mom's eyes widened and the "Old Man's" jaw almost dropped to the floor!
Rather in a daze, Gabby started gathering up a couple of the smaller wreathes....trying to pick the ones that
didn't have too many flowers. He was beginning to
feel a little ashamed of himself.
"Here! Take THIS one!" said Amy. "And THIS one's my favorite! Take it! And THIS one too! Isn't it lovely! Oh! And your children will LOVE this one!"
....So Gabby returned to his office, laded with the most beautiful and fragrant wreaths you could ever imagine! As he struggled to get the door open, he was surprised to see the Lord -Angel sitting there, waiting for him.
"Even I, the Lord-Angel,� have learned something
today!"
("Oh My!" Thought Gabby! "What does he mean by
THAT?")
The Lord-Angel spoke in a somber tone, without a hint of a smile on his face, and Gabby began to come to the realization that he must have been looking down on him that day.
"Your test was very, very revealing, Gabby! And it was especially revealing of YOU!"
("Uh Oh!" thought Gabby.)
"I saw what I should have seen a long time ago, but it took a 12 year old child to show me! You're tired, sad, & very overworked! You need HELP!� I've decided to assign a host of� Pre-Teen-Angels to become your assistants!"�
"Oooooh! Reeeaaallly? " said Gabby.
"I mean...uh...really?!"
(The thought of Pre-Teen Angels in his very neatly
organized office was quite overwhelming, but Gabby couldn't let the Lord-Angel see this.)
"What a great idea! That will be a BIG help!"
(Gabby swallowed hard.)
"I may even have a little spare time to myself! Thank you, Lord-Angel!"
(Gabby, tried to appear appreciative, hoping the little twitch in his left eye wasn't too obvious! He was wondering if the smile that was slowly coming over the Lord-Angel's benevolent face had a little mischief in it, but he decided he must be mistaken. "How could the Lord-Angel be mischievous! No! What a silly idea! It couldn't be!...Could it?")
Then, turning, as if to go, the Lord-Angel winked & said, "You know what, Gabby? I think Amy's wreaths are doing wonders for this dreary old office! I'm
feeling more cheerful than I've felt in months!"
("Ooooooh Noooo!" thought Gabby. "Maybe that WAS a mischievous smile I saw.")
I want you to return to Amy's house tomorrow and tell her that on your way home to your "poor little house" where you live with your "poor, sad, little
children", you met a man who paid you a handsome price for several of Amy's wreaths. I want you to tell her that you wish to use the money he gave you to BUY more wreaths! You will pay her WELL for these wreaths, Gabby, and you pay her out of YOUR salary.
(Gabby could stand it no more. An audible groan
escaped him.)
Oh...By the way, Gabby, have you ever considered an acting career?
"No....Uh...No I haven't" said Gabby.
"Are you SURE?"asked the Lord-Angel.
(Gabby cringed, knowing all too well why the Lord-Angel was saying this.)
"Well...Not seriously!" responded Gabby.
"With all the help from the Pre-Teen Angels, you WILL have some time on your hands. You're RIGHT about that. Soooo, Gabby...
("Oh, here it comes!" Gabby braced himself.)
I want you to take this opportunity to become
involved in something that will put a little spice in your life.
(Gabby couldn't believe his ears! "Spice?" he thought.
Now I'm SURE of it! That WAS a mischievous smile
on his face!")
"Yes!" continued the Lord-Angel. "I could use a new character-actor for my latest Divine Comedy, and you
are MADE for the part! I'm sure it will be a big hit!
I'm going to call it, "Amys Honored Guest".