A teenager who had run away from home is returning on Christmas Eve by train. He has written ahead to tell his parents he wants to come back, but he isn't sure that he will be welcomed. The train track runs right behind the family's farm, so he has asked his father to tie a red cloth on the big elm at the back of the property to signal him if he's welcome.

When he is yet a few miles away, the boy shares his anxiety with an older passenger sitting next to him. The man says he knows the teenager will be as welcome as another young man who ran off one time. Then he tells him Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Sure enough, when the train reaches the old homestead, the father's red signal is out--but instead of one signal, there were dozens of red flags waving in the wind, one from every conceivable branch, shouting the news to a runaway boy that all was forgiven at Christmas.