The White Coat

The White Coat

"And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of My followers, you will be rewarded." (Matthew 10:42)

Once upon a time, there was a white coat.

Beautiful.

Soft.

Name-brand.

Expensive.

For a long time, the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat hung on the rack in a very, nice store. One exceptional day, Mrs. Willowkins walked into that store. (For normally, you see, Mrs. Willowkins only shops at Walmart.)

"I think I'll buy that beautiful, soft white coat," said Mrs. Willowkins. And she did.

Mrs. Willowkins was careful to only wear the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat on special occasions to keep it beautiful, soft, and white.

One winter day, Mrs. Willowkins walked into her closet and felt the soft material of the beautiful white coat. "I think I'll give this white coat to my granddaughter," said Mrs. Willowkins.

Mrs. Willowkins imagined the sparkle in Elizabeth's blue eyes when she would hand her the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat. Mrs. Willowkins smiled.

Mrs. Willowkins imagined how pretty Elizabeth would look in the white coat on her way to church. Mrs. Willowkins smiled again.

Finally, the big day came, and Mrs. Willowkins gave the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive coat to her granddaughter. "OOOOHHH," said Elizabeth. Mrs. Willowkins smiled and smiled and smiled.

The next day, Mrs. Willowkins joined her family at the park to watch Elizabeth's younger brother, Isaac, practice baseball. Elizabeth carefully laid the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive coat on the bleachers and skipped off to the playground to swing.

A brisk, April breeze shook the chain-link fence around the baseball diamond. "Brrr willy!" said Mrs. Willowkins, and she pulled on a second coat and black, sparkly gloves. 

Behind third base, a little boy in a blue t-shirt shivered in the cold wind.

"Hey, little boy," shouted Mrs. Willowkins' son-in-law, Stephen Fickle, "you wanna wear this jacket?" And he picked up the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat and tossed it over the the fence.

"Thanks," said the little boy, now all snuggly in the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat.

Mrs. Willowkins' jaw dropped.

Mrs. Willowkins' brown eyes bulged.

Mrs. Willowkins glared at Stephen Fickle in disbelief.

Oops, the little boy in the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive white coat missed a fly ball. 

"Hit the dirt and give me five!" hollered the coach.

Mrs. Willowkins leaped to her feet and yelled, "Not in that white coat!!!" Rebekah Willowkins Fickle pretended not to know the strange Mrs. Willowkins - her mother. 

At the end of practiced, the little boy handed the beautiful, soft, name-brand, expensive, dusty, white coat back to Elizabeth.

And the moral of this true story is: be careful what you put into the hands of a compassionate son-in-law who cares about little boys more than beautiful or soft or name-brand or expensive.

The End.