A Visit from Grandma
by Sara Rivas
All right. I am happy to be able to share this week’s Christmas kid story. Haha. All right. So I’m going old school, and I am sharing a story from the book that one of the books that my mom used to read stories to me when I was a little girl. So this one is from the book set called ‘Tell Me a Story,’ and it’s by Arturo Maxwell. And I’m assuming it’s the same author for both the English and the Spanish ones.
All right. So this one is called ‘A Visit from Grandma.’ So go ahead and share my screen to make sure that you guys are able to see the pictures. I know my pictures are teeny tiny.
All right. So this story is about two little girls. One, her name is Monica, and the other is Hilda. And Monica and Hilda had saved all of their allowances, all of their birthday money, all of their money that they had gone for the whole year. And it was finally December 1st. And that was the day that their mom had said that they could open their piggy banks.
And so the mom kept the little key to their little locks for their piggy banks. And they went in there and opened them. And Monica was unable to open hers, but she decided, ‘I’m just going to use this blade, and I’m just going to rip this thing open. I am just so excited.’ So they counted up their money. One had 70 pesos. So they must have been in Mexico. And the other one had 107 pesos. So they were super giddy and excited.
‘What do we do with all of our money? Oh, I can’t wait. I’ve really been wanting to have this really beautiful dress. And I can’t wait to get myself this beautiful dress,’ said Hilda. And Monica said, ‘Oh, and I always wanted a really cute purse, like the little ones that you have to a little handle that you can take with you everywhere. They’re just so cute. And you can put all your cool stuff inside. I really wanted a purse. Let’s go to the store. Let’s see what we can buy with all of our money.’
When they got to the store, they realized, ‘Whoa, things are pretty expensive. And if we end up buying ourselves what we really want, I think we’re going to run out of money. And we’re not going to have any money to buy anybody else anything.’ And so they decided, ‘Who do you really, really want to give a Christmas gift to?’ And Hilda said, ‘I really want to give something special to my mom. She does a lot for us.’ And Monica said, ‘Yeah, I really wish I could give something special to Grandma. I really miss my Grandma. I haven’t seen her in a long time.’
And so then they started thinking like, ‘What can we do? What gifts can we buy them to make them happy?’ And so then they got a piece of paper and they started writing down their ideas of what they could buy them or make them or get for them. And so then the older sister Hilda said, ‘Hey, you know what? I think I have an idea. Why don’t we put our money together and if we get enough money, we’ll together, we’ll have enough money to pay for a ticket so that Grandma can come visit us. We can get her a bus or a train ticket. And she can come visit us. I think it would be the best. It would make mom so happy and it would make Grandma so happy. And I know they’ve been wanting to visit each other, but I know they don’t have the funds to pay for the tickets to get here.’
And so then they decided that was a genius idea. So they went over to the post office and they cashed in all of their pesos, which is Mexican currency, which is all their coins or dollars if they were here in the US. And they got a check and they used that check and they wrote a letter to your grandma, ‘We really miss you. And we would love to have you over next in a couple of weeks for Christmas. If you would be so kind to please not lose this check and use it and get yourself a ticket and head over here. We would really appreciate it. Love Hilda and Monica.’ And so they wrote up that note, they sent it with a check. And they mailed it off and they left that post office and they were so excited.
‘I just can’t wait. I wonder what my mom’s face is gonna look like. I wonder if she’ll be mad at us. I wonder if she’ll be super happy because she’s here but maybe a little mad because we kept a secret from her. I just, I’m so excited and I just can’t wait. And I wonder what sweet treats grandma will bring with her. She always has sweet things for us.’ And so they were joyously walking back to their home.
Then the day finally came, and they had been peeking out the window every time anyone rang the doorbell. And finally this time it was grandma. And so they whispered to each other, ‘It’s grandma, it’s grandma. Don’t get the door, don’t get the door. Let mom get the door.’ So, so mom, when she hears the doorbell, she yells, ‘Girls, can you please get the door?’ And the girls say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, mom. I’m really, really stuck with doing, finishing something up. Can you please go get it yourself? I’m so, so sorry. Can you please, please, please go get it?’ Mom says, ‘Ah, fine, I’ll get the door.’ So mom has to stop what she’s doing and heads over to the door, opens the door and sees her mom there. So she can’t believe what’s happening and she’s very much in shock. And she says, ‘Mom?’ And she says, ‘Well, you called for me, didn’t you? You sent a check with mommy for me. No, I did not, but I have a feeling I know who did.’ And the two girls are in the background, laughing away, just really excited and happy that grandma and mom are together again after not being able to see each other for a while.
And so once all the snickering in the laughter ends and all the joy kind of settles a little bit, grandma calls the girls over to her and she says, ‘Come here.’ And she slowly opens up her luggage bag and she says, ‘Girls, I brought something for you.’ And she pulls out a lovely knitted dress that she made herself and a beautiful coin purse that has exactly what Monica wanted. And she says, ‘Look at girls, I made this for you.’ And the girls just stand there in shock. ‘How did you know?’ And she says, ‘What? What did you guys not want these gifts?’ And they say, ‘Yes, we really, really do. We’ve actually been wanting to save our money to buy ourselves those exact gifts.’ And grandma says, ‘Why? It’s into that interesting. That reminds me. Bible verse.’
And the Bible verse that she shares with them is Proverbs 19:17. ‘If you are kind to poor people, you are lending money to the Lord and he will pay back the debt to you.’ And I love this verse, and I can see it two different ways. I can see it from the giving end where if you are giving to someone else, you know that God is going to repay you because you know that you’re not going to get that money back or you’re not going to get that gift back. But you know that God promises you in this verse that he’s going to pay you back. And if there’s anyone that’s going to pay me back, I would love God to pay me back for something that I’m giving to someone else because I’m sure that he’s going to be just and a very loving and giving father and I’m sure he’s going to give me way more than what I’m giving. And so I really want to have his repayment.
And I can also see it from the other end as the receiver. And sometimes when we need from others, it’s kind of hard to ask, and it’s hard to receive. But this verse is very comforting. If you can’t give back to someone that has something to give you, and you don’t have something of worth to give back to them, you have a promise in your heart that says, ‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to, I don’t have to pay you back. I know God will pay you back.’ And that’s just the very best feeling ever.
So this season, when we’re making our lists of all the things that we want. Let’s also make a list of all the things that we can give. And let’s take advantage that God tells us that he will repay us back for what good we do for others. All right, close your eyes so we can pray.
Dear Jesus, thank you so much for all the beautiful promises that you give us. Thank you because you always love us and you always take care of us and you are always there for us. Thank you so much for your great love and for your kindness and for the promises that you are going to come and you’re going to take us we’re going to get to live eternally with you and we’re going to get to just enjoy your presence forever. That’s just the most beautiful gift that you could ever give us. Thank you for your child for sending Jesus to this earth. And thank you for this season where we can get to remember that and appreciate that we love you so much and we thank you for just the things that we have and the things that we know that we can give and the things that we know that we will receive. Thank you so much for everything in your sweet name we pray. Amen.
All right, everyone. Bye-bye.