Nativity

Running through the woods, I had to hurry. The smell of burning wood had been infecting my lungs for too long. So long that I had become weak. Coughing up mucus, I couldn't help but notice the sound of a baby crying up ahead. Rushing to his aid, I guess his mother left him out in the cold. Realizing that he was abandoned, I began to feel a purpose in this entire situation. Something magical touched my heart. I may be the only hope that this child has left, so I took him in: win, lose, or draw. Contemplating in the moments of decision, I began to reflect on my own life. I'm a reject outcast and I've never shared anything with anyone but myself. Maybe I can learn something from this child. I never got to know my real father and I was raised by someone else. My mother has a good heart but she is far from perfect. I'm sure she has a passion to be holy and pure but her desire is what makes her special. Getting the child to a warm spot, I noticed a scar above his eye. I also noticed that when I picked him up, he stopped crying and it began to snow. Laying him in a cardboard box, laced with cotton, so he could sleep, I noticed a smile on his face. Being a pretty tough soul, I felt my heart skip a beat. Maybe someone from the heavens has sent me a friend. No longer an orphan child, I began to raise him and we became best friends. I watched him grow up and go to the prom with friends. He even graduated and married his high school sweetheart. At the moment I took him in, it was a gamble. He and I had nothing. This abandoned child taught me a lesson in life. He taught me how to sacrifice. Throughout his life, I never told him about being abandoned and left for dead, but I assured him that I would never leave his side. I kept my promise and he kept his by graduating and following in my footsteps. I'm 88 years old now and I just found out that he and his wife opened an orphanage and named it, "Nativity." How ironic, I was once lost in the woods but I may have stumbled across something priceless. If I had never gambled on caring for this child, millions of abandoned children would have no home. He cared for them as much as I cared for him. I have no doubt in my mind that there is something greater going on in the universe, at least at this moment of clarity. I may be an optimist, but it doesn't account for the warm feeling that I feel inside knowing that I chose to raise a child that was left for dead. At his first game, I was there. When he served in a combat zone, my wife and I sent him care packages. When my wife left me, he sent me a card in the mail and never questioned my authentication as his father and friend. Odd things happen in life, I guess that's a part of being human. Life isn't so bad after all, especially when nothing is made into something.