Welcome to
the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series!
We’re giving
away a pearl necklace in celebration of the holidays, as well as some items
(books, a gift pack, music CDs) from the contributors! Enter now
on Facebook or at the Pearl Girls
blog. The winner will announced on January 2, 2013 at
the Pearl Girls blog. If you are
unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what
we’re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help
women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy
of Mother
of Pearl, Pearl
Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all
GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.
***
Who is Mr.
Carbunkle?
By: Debora M.
Coty
So far we knew it
wasn’t Miss Scarlet in the parlor with a candlestick . . . or Colonel Mustard
in the drawing room with a wrench.
With a voice
bursting with sudden enlightenment, the player to my right announced, “Why,
it’s Mr. Carbunkle!*”
My other two
opponents and I looked at one another in bewilderment. Everyone knew there was
no such character in this game.
It seemed my lot
to state the obvious. “Who is Mr. Carbunkle?”
The words
continued to ring in my head as I sat straight up in bed. I must have spoken
the question aloud to jerk me awake so.
Who is Mr.
Carbunkle?
And then I knew.
I knew just as surely as if the Almighty had sent me an e-mail titled, “Hey,
Deb, here’s your answer.”
I had been
praying for several weeks about how Papa God would like me to use my writing
tithe this year. It’s been my custom, for the nine years I’ve written
professionally, to give away each December (anonymously, if possible) ten
percent of that year’s income from my writing ministry to someone the Lord
designates.
The sum isn’t
really all that much in the grand scheme of things (contrary to popular belief,
Christian writers don’t get rich), but it’s enough to bless somebody in their
celebration of Christ’s birth with the knowledge that their Heavenly Father
knows about their needs . . . and cares.
I thought about
the only Mr. Carbunkle I knew—the one who attends our church, a quiet,
unassuming man who’d been out of work for more than a year. I confess that I
knew about his plight but hadn’t really given it much thought—or prayer—lately.
Although he never complained, I knew his family must be struggling.
So Mr. Carbunkle
it is.
You know, there
are lots of Mr. Carbunkles out there who would be blessed mightily by a
love-gift from you this Christmas. It doesn’t have to be money; it could be
help with yard work, or home repairs, or a loaf of banana bread, or best of
all, a gift of your time. Thirty minutes of your undivided attention for a
lonely soul who needs to know Papa God knows his or her needs … and cares.
Who is your Mr.
Carbunkle?
Don’t have a
Clue? I know someone who does. Just ask Him.
*Name changed for
privacy
***
Debora Coty is an occupational
therapist, a piano teacher, and a freelance writer. She's also involved in the
children's ministry at her church and is an avid tennis player. Debora began
writing to fill the void when her last child left for college, and it has since
become a passion. Debora has a real knack for getting across sound biblical
concepts with a refreshing lightheartedness as attested in her monthly newspaper
column entitled "Grace Notes: God's Grace for Everyday Living." Look
for Fear,
Faith and a Fist Full of Chocolate in February of 2013.
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