Shoes So Worn
Twas the week before Christmas and Mom was a grouch.
She hated to move an inch from the couch.
The Dad and the kids were distraught (so they say).
And wondered what could have made her this way.
She used to love Christmas in so many ways!
She used to count hours and minutes and days!
And now there she say. What a sorry sight.
She sat all day long and on into the night.
The Dad, he decided she must need a break,
So he did all the work he could possibly take.
The children just whined. They knew something was wrong.
And when Mom sat on the couch, days were awfully long!
The Mom, she was thinking of what she should do.
Her feet felt like lead. She was awfully blue.
She pondered the reason that this would be,
And finally decided; She thought she could see.
So she broke the silence that had lasted days.
She called Dad and children to tell them the way,
That she could get over the sad grouchy blues.
She asked them to get on an old pair of shoes.
"What will we do?" they thought, never quite knowing,
Where in the world their Mom planned on going.
They did what she asked and their old shoes they wore,
Wondering if they were going out doors.
Was building a snowman the thing they would do?
Would that somehow save the Mom from the blues?
No, when they gathered the Mom said a prayer.
They always said prayers before going somewhere.
At last Mom got up from the couch.
And walked with the family out of the house.
She had them all carry an armload of stuff,
Mumbling that she hoped it was enough.
They carried presents, treats, and tags.
They carried paints and shopping bags
All full of food and tools and wood.
They were going out to do some good.
They gave presents to those without;
Talked to the lonely on their route.
They followed Mom out in the woods
Where they found some hungry to give the food.
To those who knew not what Christmas was for,
They sang songs of Jesus' birth at their door.
And finally with just wood left and some tools
They smiled at the people who thought they were fools.
They walked through the mud with their worn, old shoes
To a place where their paint and tools they could use.
They fixed up a house for someone who could not.
Smiling and singing songs some had forgot.
And then, very tired, and worn out all through,
They followed the Mom who was no longer blue.
They fell in their beds and were quickly asleep.
No whining was heard from the kids, not a peep.
For as they walked in those old shoes
To cure their Mom from the awful blues,
They found they followed, like shepherds of old,
A star like the one in the story that's told.
At least it seemed as if they had.
And in their hearts they were really glad.
For it seemed as if, in the shoes so worn,
They truly celebrated when Jesus was born.
