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.

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