Near the ocean in Mexico was a village of farmers. In the village was a small adobe house. In the house lived a mother and her little girl.
The house had one large room, and in the center of that room was a wooden table with two wooden chairs, one for the mother and one for the little girl. In the center of the table was a very colorful bowl.
Every morning, every mid-day and every evening the mother would place a simple meal of fish, or chicken with beans in the bowl. After saying a prayer of thanks, the mother and little girl would then eat from the same bowl. They enjoyed these times together and smiled and laughed a lot.
Next to the little adobe house grew a large mesquite tree with branches that curved like long arms. Along these branches on the mesquite tree were many sharp thorns. And next to the tree were two saguaro cactus with many small prickly thorns.
Now, under this mesquite tree, near the prickly cactus lived another family. This family included a mother pack rat and her five baby pack rats.
Near the roots of the tree the mother pack rat had built a nest for her babies out of small branches filled with thorns from the large mesquite tree, and clumps of cactus prickly with thorns. Inside this nest the mother pack rat and her babies were very safe and very comfortable.
Each day the little girl would follow her mother along the sandy beach near the village and collect small sea shells. When they had enough shells they would string the shells into pretty necklaces and bracelets. They would set up a table on the beach near the other vendors. They would sell the shell jewelry to visitors enjoying the seashore. Then they would take home a few shiny gold coins to buy dinner.
At the end of the day they would cook a simple dinner, place it in the colorful bowl, say a prayer of thanks and enjoy this time together. Every night the little girl and her mother would happily listen to the pack rat rustling the leaves and branches outside their little house. Then they would fall asleep with nice full stomachs.
During the day the mother pack rat and her babies would sleep until dark. Then, the mother pack rat would scurry out of her nest to find food and interesting objects, and then scurry back to bring them to her babies.
The mother pack rat loved to exchange objects. Whenever she took something, she always left something in its place. If she found some nuts she might leave a button behind. If she took home a pop top from a can she might leave behind an acorn. So in the middle of her nest she would collect nuts and seeds to eat, as well as buttons, nuts and bolts, and even a shiny coin or two.
One day the mother and little girl went down to the beach to sell their shell jewelry. But sadly no one was there to buy them. The next day was Christmas and everyone else in the village was home getting ready for the holiday. So that day the mother did not get any coins to buy food for their dinner.
When they returned home the mother had only a small amount of corn meal, so she made four large corn pancakes and drizzled them with the last bit of honey. They each ate one and saved the last two for Christmas morning. They put them in the large bowl for the morning. This would be the only gifts they could share with each other.
Still, they said their prayers and went to bed happy that they had each other. Just like the other nights they listened to the rustling noises of the pack rat under the mesquite tree and fell asleep.
The next morning the mother rose early to warm up the two corn pancakes. The pancakes were gone! But when the mother looked more closely she saw something glitter. There in the bottom of the bowl were two large golden coins. It was a Christmas miracle!
The mother left the little girl to sleep late and went quickly to the local store. There she bought a chicken, vegetables, two large cookies and a pretty doll. She wrapped them up and hurried home to place them on the table.
When the girl awoke, she clapped her hands in surprise and laughed with joy. On the table she saw a wonderful meal, and next to her chair was a special Christmas gift.
Before they ate the delicious dinner, they prayed together and said thanks for the Christmas miracle. That night the little girl went to sleep with a full stomach holding her new doll.
Christmas night, as the mother and little girl fell asleep, there was no sound of rustling from the pack rat under the mesquite tree.
Instead, in the pack rat nest, something was different. Gone were the nuts and seeds. Gone were the pop tops. And gone were two gold coins. Instead, scattered around the floor were lots of crumbs from two large corn pancakes, still sticky with honey.
And on this Christmas, in this nest, under the mesquite tree, next to the little girl’s window slept the mother pack rat and her five babies, all of them happy and with very full stomachs.
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