Special Delivery

Special Delivery

What are some ways your family tries to save money? These days, it’s wise to pinch pennies wherever we can. The same was true a hundred years ago, when a penny had a lot more value than it does now. But wait until you hear how one family chose to save a few cents.

On February 19, 1914, the Pierstorffs of Grangeville, Idaho, sent their four-year-old daughter, May, to visit her grandparents in Lewiston, seventy-five miles away. Train fare equaled a whole day’s pay. Way too much. So May’s father did a little research and discovered that a forty-eight-and-a-half-pound parcel-post package would only cost fifty-three cents. There were no laws against mailing a person, so Mr. Pierstorff bought the stamps and had them affixed to May’s coat. He and his wife waved good-bye as their little girl embarked on her journey in the train’s mail compartment.

You might ask, How could a loving parent send a child that way? How dangerous! How humiliating! If they really cared about her, couldn’t they find a more suitable means of getting her where she needed to go? For the record, May was never put in a box. And because she was a “package,” the mail clerk on duty in Lewiston delivered her directly to her grandparents’ house. In the end, May’s dad seemed to know what he was doing. And everything went as planned.

In some ways, that’s how God sent his Son to us. Jesus needed to come to earth and be the Savior of the world. You might argue that he should have traveled first-class. After all, even before his heavenly Father waved good-bye, Jesus was already King of kings and Lord of lords. He deserved to make the trip in style. Comfort. Safety. Yet how did he arrive? As a helpless baby in a filthy manger, surrounded by smelly animals (see Luke 2:7). Yet Jesus’ Father knew exactly what he was doing. And everything went as planned.

Daddy-Daughter Time

What do you think of Mr. Pierstorff’s frugality? Could you see yourself doing that? Consider reading about May’s story together in the 1997 children’s book Mailing May. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to save money?

Read what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:4-11 about Christ’s humble station and how God later exalted him. What is Paul’s point in sharing this? How well are you doing in this area?

What’s The Word?

She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.   Luke 2:7