(my thanks to Bass Mitchell for this idea)

BUTCH: Grandpa, tell me the story again of Martin the Cobbler.

G-PA: Well, Butch, that is an old Tolstoy story and I don't remember it exactly.

BUTCH: Tell me anyway.

G-PA: Martin the shoemaker was a devout follower of God. One night he received a vision that Jesus would visit him. So he got up early Christmas Day and started to get his shop ready in anticipation of Christ's visit.

BUTCH: Wow, that sounds neat.

G-PA: Well, an elderly lady came by with a load of wood on her back and asked Martin if she could just sit for a minute for the warmth of the fire. Well, the only seat available by the fire was the one for the Lord, but Martin let her sit there. He gave her drink and food, then he helped her home with her wood.

BUTCH: Did he miss Jesus while he was gone?

G-PA: He hoped he hadn't. Later that day a beggar come by the house. Martin invited him in and gave him food and drink. He noticed the beggar didn't have any shoes so he gave him a pair and the beggar went his way.

BUTCH: He hadn't seen Christ yet?

G-PA: No, not yet. The day passed and in the darkness of the evening, Martin heard a child crying. The little girl had become separated from her family and was lost. So Martin took her into his home and dried her tears, warmed her by the fire and calmed her down. He then took her home to her worried family and returned to his darkened home.

BUTCH: I wonder if he missed Jesus.

G-PA: That evening, after midnight, he knelt in prayer, and asked the Lord why he did not come? I waited all day but you didn't come by to visit. But "I did" said the Lord. "I came three times." I was a bare-footed beggar, I was the elderly woman and I was the little lost child.

BUTCH: You mean Martin had the Lord in his place and didn't even realize it?

G-PA: That's right, Butch. Martin had entertained the Lord, unawares. We never know when it is the Lord we are helping. Bye boys and girls. See you next time.

BUTCH: See you everyone. Bye boys and girls.