Gum Won’t Fix It

By Jodi Whisenhunt –

Just so you know, gum won’t fix a decapitated snowman. Legend has it, on a slushy Christmas Eve, 1986, as two brothers tossed a football in the sleet and snow, Frosty’s distant relative (of the Styrofoam cutout clan) went for the interception and encountered a personal foul. The snowman’s head dropped into the receiver’s hands while the ball slid under the bushes.

Being the responsible teens that they were, the brothers attempted to re-head the snowman with the only adhesive available, chewed up bubble gum. Now, either it was really sticky gum, or it froze quickly in the twenty-eight degree night.

Daylight betrayed the boys’ blunder and exposed their cover-up. When the sun thawed the Bubblicious, the snowman’s head slid down his shoulder and rested on the broomstick in his hand. My husband and brother-in-law, the kids in question, learned then that God “brings hidden things to light” (Job 28:11b NIV), for “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:22 NIV).

Christmas morning, instead of tearing into ribboned boxes of cassette tapes and Atari games, the boys led their mom out to the yard. The snowman’s tilted noggin made her giggle. She wrapped her scarf around his neck to secure the gum repair, then stepped back and hugged her boys. Her gift of forgiveness was their most treasured present that year.

An errant pass broke the snowman, but sin, like the deception of hiding a wrong-doing, severs God’s children from the body of Christ. The world’s biggest gumball couldn’t begin to mend such separation.

Fortunately, the Christ child born in a manger two thousand years ago, who knew no sin, took on the sin of the world. He, the Bright and Morning Star, revealed the Truth. He did not conceal our transgressions; however, He washed them all away so that we may sparkle as new-fallen snow.

This Christmas, when you gather with loved ones, sipping hot cocoa and watching flurries flutter, remember to acknowledge your sin to the Father, for He did not blanket our iniquities but forgave the guilt of our sin (Psalm 32:5 NIV).

Jodi Whisenhunt is an Amy Award-winning freelance writer and editor in McKinney, Texas. You can find her at www.jodiwhisenhunt.com or www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com, where Disney IS school.