The Gift

By Liz Cowen Furman –

My class went until 4:45 and getting back to the dorm in time for the 5 o’clock dinner bell was very important to this college freshman. If we went in right at five we got the best seats and a great show of the handsome young men as they came into the cafeteria for dinner. I cannot believe some of the things we did that year.

One afternoon while racing up the sidewalk to get back to the dorm in time, I looked up at the sound of a very large, very loud bird flying over my head. As I looked back down, he deposited a gift on the top of my head that ran down my forehead and cheeks. I was horrified! When the gals who were waiting for me to go in to dinner realized what had happened they burst into gales of laughter. I had to shower before I could go in so no show for me that day. Can you believe they went in without me?

Many years later, when I had children, we were waiting on the lawn of the Veteran’s Hospital for my Dad to come out. An eagle flew over our heads and dropped what looked like a gallon of the same gift the other bird had bestowed upon me. It reminded me of the present I had received that day back in the dorm. The boys and I laughed out loud, as I shared my story with them. We all agreed that it was a good thing it wasn’t an eagle flying over me that day. We mused over some poor driver buzzing along when blam right on their windshield…blindsided. That could be dangerous.

Isn’t it funny how things that happen to us in our lives years later become a great story? I make wedding cakes and I always tell the bride that I hope something goes wrong. Not a catastrophe or anything really bad, but if nothing out of the ordinary happens all they can say is “We got married.” How boring is that? After making all those wedding cakes, I could tell you some great stories. Candles catching things on fire, little ring bearers refusing to walk down the aisle, inebriated officiates that knock over lit candelabras …little things that at the time seem important and later just crack us up.

I read somewhere that you can tell a lot about a person by how they handle three things…tangled Christmas lights, a long queue at the store or a clerk’s mistake. I would be so bold to add; a bad referee at your child’s game, an attitudinal teenager or unfair treatment. I have failed on many occasions to shine the light of my Jesus into difficult situations but I am learning. I hope that before I go home to glory I can adopt an eternal perspective on current events or at least give it the “Will this matter in five years?” test. So next time those Christmas lights all tangled and put away badly stare you in the face, think of it as an opportunity to shine. Merry Christmas!