New Year’s Gift

I always take a year-end beach walk. As I held a small smooth stone, it reminded me of another one given to me a long time ago.

It hadn’t been like our old Christmas celebrations. How could it? It was just Dad and me in an apartment he’d rented downtown. Some of my gifts were still at Mom’s—waiting until I got there for my visit with her. It just seemed so disjointed.

But Dad had tried. He’d bought some ornaments from the dime store and we’d picked out a tree together. 

It didn’t have the family ornaments, but it was something we’d done together.

On Christmas morning, after opening presents, Dad fixed his legendary scrambled eggs. If so much had to change, I was thankful the delicious eggs didn’t have to.

From the kitchen nook he called out that there was still another gift—tucked in the tree branches. I started perusing the limbs and noticed a small box—kind of like a jewelry box. It hadn’t been wrapped, so I opened the box and inside was a polished rock—so smooth it begged to be touched. A word had been painted on it and as I held it, Dad came alongside me and said that sometimes it takes just one word to make a difference. It takes one word to continue on. It takes just one word to remember what we know in our heart. 

What was the word? BELIEVE

Dad had a quiet faith. He wasn’t one to give a sermon on believing in what God could do. Instead he just chose to believe.

I’ve long since lost that polished rock I received on my 16th Christmas, but I never lost that word in the deepest part of my soul. BELIEVE—it’s the perfect word to end 2018 and to take forward into 2019.

Popular posts from this blog

Dreaming the Dream

Image
Dreaming big dreams about the future is easy for kids. The only thing standing in the way is time.  Kid’s dreams are not about skills, or opportunities, or even practicality. Those things come much later.  My grandson hopes to be professional soccer player when he grows up. This week, a small piece of his dream came true when his Boys and Girls Club was invited to participate in pre-game activities with the Seattle Sounders Football Club.  He got to suit up in a real jersey and walk on the field with a real pro player. Imagine a young soccer player looking up to who he hopes to be one day. If you haven’t taken the time to talk to a child about their future dreams—you should.  They believe. As we get older we sometimes forget that dreams fuel our hopes—and that's something we all need. So, do you still dream? Or have you left those childhood thoughts behind?  S pending time with children will  inspire you to believe agai
Read more

Sexy Selfies: Posting for attention

Image
We’ve all seen the “selfie” pix on Facebook—those self-taken images in varying forms of dress (or undress). Usually they’re female poses taken in public restrooms, dressing rooms, bedrooms, and lots of what used to be private space. Thanks to selfies and social media, it’s open season on privacy—and modesty. Do you have a social media “friend” who has become a serial selfie? Most often selfies are young girls sharing their sexiness with the world. Serial selfies post hundreds of pictures, so it’s hard to ignore the display. The question is why do they do it. While I don’t approve of the sexy display of serial selfies, insecurity is at the root. Selfies collect “likes” to boost morale. The attention received is like a balm to their broken spirits. But the dark side of exhibitionism is feeling used—not unlike the girl searching for love and giving away her body in hopes of finding love. Selfies seek approval. They're locked in a perpetual cycle of posting pi
Read more

Wild or Tame? Which One Are You?

Image
Finally! Research that explains why I act the way I do. Columbia University’s Motivational Science Center studied people’s activities and what brought them the most happiness. Even more telling were how those activities changed as they aged. Twenty-somethings tend to equate happiness with high-energy activities. Words like excited and ecstatic are usually attached to spontaneous things—even risky things—and living life full throttle.  Researchers labeled this Promotion Motivation —the urge to take chances, including career moves that may not work out. Happiness comes from happenings—the more happenings, the more happiness. By age forty, adults associate happiness with things running smoothly at work and home. It’s also about feeling secure in relationships. Keeping healthy matters more too. This behavior is called Prevention Motivation —and people are more concerned with preserving and maintaining the things they value. It appears that time ofte
Read more