The Mitten

It was not uncommon for her to be shut out of the warmth of her family. On this particular day, in the twilight of the eve, with large snowflakes dancing and falling around her, she searched the cold, soft, blanket of snow beneath her boots for her mitten.

Traces of tears welled up in her eyes, softly spilling over long lashes and trickling down her little face, making it even harder to focus on her desperate search. She was 10 years old and had lost her mitten and could not come into the house until she found it. The crisp biting wind and cold caused her to shiver through her thin jacket. Never had she ever felt more abandoned or alone and as the sad tears streamed rivers down her face she searched and searched. But the mitten could not be found.

With little hope and no one's help she knelt in the halo of a street lamp. And on her knees she cried out to the one person she had heard truly loved her. Her simple prayer "Jesus I cannot find my mitten. I cannot go in without it. If You love me, please help me find it...please" must have melted the Father's heart of God.

But for her, it seemed even He was silent, no one cared, and she had been cast aside once again.

In the hush of the moment, she began to rise...now embraced by a cloak of darkness with the exception of large flakes of snow swirling around her. Illuminated by the glow of the lamplight, she heard no answer and felt so alone.

But wait. As she went to brush the clumps of snow off her knees, time held its breath, and she in her amazement gasped. For there on one knee, stuck to the snow, was her one gray mitten she had lost.

How could this be?

But it was!

Did God move the mitten so she could find it? Did He direct her to the spot so it could be found? Only He knows the answer. But to this little girl all she knew was that for the first time in her young life, she actually felt like she was loved; loved by the One who promised to love her and be with her always and be her friend, Jesus whom she had asked into her life maybe 6 months before.

I cannot describe to you the gentle joy, the stillness and warmth, and peace in the heart of this little girl as she knocked on the door of her home and asked to be let in, knowing she had her mitten in one hand, and an extraordinary experience from God in her heart; a gift from Him that would be a light to her for the rest of her life.

How do I know this to be true? I know because I am the little girl, now grown up with children of my own. It is still the gift I hang onto today, having seen more grief in my lifetime than I care to dwell on. Looking back and reflecting I remember this one special moment, and all the other times since, that He has been with me and shown me that He cares. He sees the sparrow fall, and mittens too.

Thank you Jesus!

[ Linda Denise Moser, Copyright ©1999 -- from 'Tidbits Devotional' (Bill Champion) ]