Golden Nuggets from the Mountains

The Night I Lost My Taste for Chocolate I grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. During my childhood and young adult years, I loved chocolate; chocolate cake, chocolate candy, you name it as long as it was chocolate, I loved it. I went into the Army when I was 18 years old during World War II. I was in Belgium on Christmas, 1944, involved in the Belgium Bulge. We were traveling in the back of an old Army 6x6 truck, on a very cold winter night, which happened to be Christmas Eve. We stopped in a small town on the Belgium and Holland border. The Captain told us to get out of the truck and walk around a bit. I had on all the clothes I could get on to try to keep warm, but my feet were so cold it felt like I was walking on stubs. I passed by a house and saw a dim light through a keyhole. Peeping through the keyhole, I could see some people sitting around a potbelly cook burning stove. It looked so cozy and warm. I really wanted to be in there, so I knocked on the door. A young woman came to the door and opened it just a little. When she saw I was an American soldier, she invited me in. They had a pot of tea on the stove and she immediately poured me a cup. My, how good it was and the heat felt so good. There were five people in this little room sitting around the stove; an older lady, who was the grandmother, three small children, and the mother. They offered me something to eat and I asked them what they had to eat and they told me they had stewed rutabagas (turnips) and the hot tea. This is all they had to eat for Christmas. I ran my hand down in one of the pockets of my old GI overcoat, and found some hard candy from some Army ‘K’ rations. I gave it to the children. They were so happy with these few pieces of hard candy and just kept thanking me. I could communicate with the younger woman a bit. She could speak some English and I a little French. I found out that her husband, the children’s father, had been killed in the war. Her Dad, the husband of the older lady, had been carried away to a work camp. I also found out that they were Christians. I had a prayer time with them. The Lord really filled that room. He was so real. It was now about midnight. Christmas had arrived. I was about to leave when I ran my hand in the other overcoat pocket and there were five big Hershey bars that I had gotten in PX rations. I was saving them for myself. I loved them so much but something happened to me. The Lord spoke to me. I knew I ought to give those Hershey bars to those people for Christmas, and God took away my taste for chocolate. I pulled those five large Hershey bars out and gave each one of those five people one. They thanked me, hugged me, and kissed me. What a joy I felt in my heart. I lost my taste for chocolate that night and I have never liked chocolate since. I felt the presence of Jesus the most on this Christmas Day than on any other Christmas Day before or since.