Another Touching Story.... These just came to me... Must read?

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I
sat Erik in a highchair and noticed everyone was quietly
sitting and talking.

Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi." He pounded
his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were
crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless
grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was
a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and
his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty
and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were
too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose
it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to
smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and
flapped on loose wrists.

"Hi there, baby. Hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the
man said to Erik.


My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?"

Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi."

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then
at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my
beautiful baby.

Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the
room, "Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look
, he knows peek-a-boo."

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all
except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for
the admiring skid row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with
his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My
husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in
the parking lot.

The old man sat poised between me and the door.

"Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or
Erik," I prayed.

As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to
sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I
did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a
baby's "pick-me-up" position.

Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my
arms to the man's. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a
very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in
an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny
head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed,
and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands
full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's
bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved
so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck.

The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes
opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm
commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I
managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as
though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man
said, "God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas
gift." I said nothing more than a muttered thanks.

With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was
wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and
why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me."

I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the
innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no
judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a
suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a
child who was not.

I felt it was God asking, "Are you willing to share your son
for a moment when He shared His for all eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter
the Kingdomof God, we must become as little children."

Yes, truly a wonderful and touching story, and completely inappropriate for this category.

i am a christian my self and i liked it a lot................its a lot touchy..may god bless ur baby

very very nice... touching

touching.

aww that made me cry!
that's soooo sweet.