![\"story](\"https:\/\/www.surfnetkids.com\/christmas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/story-christmas-guest-720x481.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
by Helen Steiner Rice <\/p>\n
It happened one day at the year’s white end,
Two neighbors called on an old-time friend<\/p>\n
And they found his shop so meager and mean,
Made gay with a thousand boughs of green,<\/p>\n
And Conrad was sitting with face a-shine
When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine<\/p>\n
And said, “Old friends, at dawn today,
When the cock was crowing the night away,<\/p>\n
The Lord appeared in a dream to me
And said, ‘I am coming your guest to be’.<\/p>\n
So I’ve been busy with feet astir,
Strewing my shop with branches of fir,<\/p>\n
The table is spread and the kettle is shined
And over the rafters the holly is twined,<\/p>\n
And now I will wait for my Lord to appear
And listen closely so I will hear<\/p>\n
His step as He nears my humble place,
And I open the door and look in His face. . .”<\/p>\n
So his friends went home and left Conrad alone,
For this was the happiest day he had known,<\/p>\n
For, long since, his family had passed away
And Conrad has spent a sad Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest
This Christmas would be the dearest and best,<\/p>\n
And he listened with only joy in his heart.
And with every sound he would rise with a start<\/p>\n
And look for the Lord to be standing there
In answer to his earnest prayer<\/p>\n
So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,
But all that he saw on the snow-covered ground<\/p>\n
Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn
And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.<\/p>\n
So Conrad was touched and went to the door
And he said, “Your feet must be frozen and sore,<\/p>\n
And I have some shoes in my shop for you
And a coat that will keep you warmer, too.”<\/p>\n
So with grateful heart the man went away,
But as Conrad noticed the time of day<\/p>\n
He wondered what made the dear Lord so late
And how much longer he’d have to wait,<\/p>\n
When he heard a knock and ran to the door,
But it was only a stranger once more,<\/p>\n
A bent, old crone with a shawl of black,
A bundle of faggots piled on her back.<\/p>\n
She asked for only a place to rest,
But that was reserved for Conrad’s Great Guest.<\/p>\n
But her voice seemed to plead, “Don’t send me away
Let me rest awhile on Christmas day.”<\/p>\n
So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup
And told her to sit at the table and sup.<\/p>\n
But after she left he was filled with dismay
For he saw that the hours were passing away<\/p>\n
And the Lord had not come as He said He would,
And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.<\/p>\n
When out of the stillness he heard a cry,
“Please help me and tell me where am I.”<\/p>\n
So again he opened his friendly door
And stood disappointed as twice before,<\/p>\n
It was only a child who had wandered away
And was lost from her family on Christmas Day. .<\/p>\n
Again Conrad’s heart was heavy and sad,
But he knew he should make this little child glad,<\/p>\n
So he called her in and wiped her tears
And quieted her childish fears.<\/p>\n
Then he led her back to her home once more
But as he entered his own darkened door,<\/p>\n
He knew that the Lord was not coming today
For the hours of Christmas had passed away.<\/p>\n
So he went to his room and knelt down to pray
And he said, “Dear Lord, why did you delay,<\/p>\n
What kept You from coming to call on me,
For I wanted so much Your face to see. . .”<\/p>\n
When soft in the silence a voice he heard,
“Lift up your head for I kept My word–<\/p>\n
Three times My shadow crossed your floor–
Three times I came to your lonely door–<\/p>\n
For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet,
I was the woman you gave to eat,
And I was the child on the homeless street.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"