The Money Tree and Hot Cocoa

Today is Scott's birthday. In honor of his day, I will share with you my dad's recipe for hot cocoa and the story of the money tree. Happy birthday, Scott. You are loved.







Long ago in the days when there were no VCRs, DVDs and PS3s there was also no instant hot cocoa and it was in fact a special treat for us to have it. My dad made it over a wood stove in our living room. It was part of our holiday celebration but this story is about faith, a money tree and a year that Christmas almost wasn't.

Hot Cocoa

3 T. sugar
3 to 4 T. Cocoa
1/8 t. salt
1/2 c. hot water
4 cups milk

Mix together sugar, cocoa and salt in top of double boiler.
Add milk to cocoa mixture; boil for 3 minutes stirring
Add milk to cocoa mixture; place over hot water, cover.
Heat to serving temperature. Do not boil.
(We usually doubled the mixture and sometimes made two batches for visitors.)

The Money Tree

Most of you who read this will have no idea what I am talking about when I tell you this story is about how we won a six foot aluminium tree with a revolving light. It was the coolest of the cool that year. We shopped at a place called J and M Wholesale which sold everything from luggage to lumber and, in the holidays, it sold toys. Like today's Costco you had to be a member. It was one of those expenses I was not sure we should have but thankfully, my dad was very good in math and found that the membership saved him money over the years. We all walked to the store every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving and gave our wish list to our dad. Somehow, it was never a wish list but his shopping list.

It happened a little over a year after my mom died. Money was very scarce because my dad had already spent some time in the hospital and there were five children still living with him. My oldest brother had gotten married two months before so it actually meant we had one more, not one less to consider. J and M wholesale put one of these amazing trees on display and covered it with $1 bills as a publicity stunt. There was a large jar near it where you could write a one time guess as to what was on the tree. It was made even more difficult because people surrounded the display chattering and the light was on the revolving tree at all times as a fan blew the dollars like leaves. People would walk away and say "impossible". Dad told all of us to go shop and pick out what we wanted. For $5 you could put anything you wanted on lay-a-way (that may also be a foreign word to some of you... it was what we did before there were five or six credit cards in our wallets). I chose a record player which had a cloth cover that was pink, yellow and orange. They had marked it down for several weeks because nobody wanted this unusual colored record player/AM FM radio. (Oh... I might explain, records were in different sizes and flat like a CD but played with a diamond needle. Never mind... it may be an "antique" item to you but it was beautiful to me.)

He never told us that what was put on the list was really possible for us to have. We were just to have fun. He was very secretive. The drawing for the winner was Christmas Eve during the day and my dad and my brother Bill went alone to the store. They did not even tell us where they were going because if he did not win, they were not sure what me, my two sisters and my other brother would have besides the ham his company gave all employees for Christmas Day and hot cocoa for Christmas Eve. My oldest brother came over and helped me and my younger siblings write a play about the birth of Christ that we could perform for his new bride and my dad that night. I had just finished the last angel costume when my dad came in the front door. He won! We already had a tree up so it stayed in it's box until the next year.

This story would not be complete without snow and there was a white covering on the ground but the roads were passable for my brother and his wife to return to their apartment a few miles away. I knew he won the tree but I did not know he won all the money on the tree. The elves were busy while I slept and the next morning, under that tree was my record player and the doll that was bigger than my baby sister. The floor was completely covered with brightly wrapped gifts. I don't think there was a single present under that tree for dad but he was the biggest kid there playing with every child and acting just as surprised as we were that we got our wishes.

From that Christmas I learned that parents teach their children not so much from what they say they believe but how they live. My dad was great with math and very patient so he walked to that store several days (we had no car) and made his calculation at the time he felt most sure of himself. If you are struggling with something that needs faith, even if you see it as impossible at first, give it some time; pray about it, look things over and then take action with the faith of a tiny mustard seed

Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith of a mustard seed... nothing will be impossible for you".

Love,
Nana