Last year my dad and I took my son, Kendall, to Tallulah, Louisiana. It was around the month of December and a chill was in the air. I guess you could say it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this small town. This is the town my dad would always bring up in conversation if you were to talk to him about "the good ole days". His dad was a hero in this town. He was "THE" man. He was the head coach of Tallulah High School and boy did my dad have some stories to share about growing up in this "fantasy" town. We drove around a few hours but before leaving, we stopped at Arby's to grab a bite. We were sitting at our table eating and my little boy wasn't behaving quite like my dad thought he should be. I hear my dad tell him, "Santa's watching you." Kendall perked up with a deer in the head lights look. My dad points behind him to a table where a jolly, white bearded man is sitting. Kendall turns around with a very puzzled look on his face. I'm sure he was wondering why in the world was Santa at a truck stop in Tallulah, Louisiana. And where was his sleigh? As we were leaving Arby's my dad stopped at the table where this large, white bearded, jolly old man was sitting because he wanted to introduce Kendall to Santa. I was a little embarrassed but I didn't stop my dad from interrupting this man's lunch because my dad himself looked a little excited to see Santa too. As my dad took Kendall by the hand, the jolly old man stopped everything to meet this random four year old little boy. He was not mad. He was not irritated. He was quite content as a matter of fact. He shook Kendall's hand and then he reached in his back pocket. He took out a card with the words "You have just met Santa Claus. Believing is Seeing". Here I was embarrassed because my dad wanted to introduce my little boy to Santa. He thought it would be cute. I thought it would be silly. My dad believed. My son believed. I did not believe.
After we said goodbye to Santa, we walked outside to check out his sleigh, a NICE Harley, then we got in my vehicle and left. But my dad was in deep thought thinking about the card that Santa gave us. He wanted me to make a copy of it but I never got the chance. Months later he still remembered that card and asked me to make a copy for him, but I never did. I know what my dad was thinking though, believing is seeing. My dad always told us to picture something in our mind that we wanted to see transpire. Whether it was running across the finish line at a track meet, running for a touchdown or having the Miss Louisiana crown placed on my head. He wanted me to SEE it so I or we could BELIEVE it.
When do we outgrow our innocence? When do we stop believing? Within the past month, I spoke to a young man who was battling cancer. I told him to keep his head up and to keep his faith because miracles happen every day. His response was the following: "I'm certainly not giving up hope even though I'm feeling worse by the day. I'm on tons of prayer lists and certainly believe in the power of prayer." This young man was staring death in the face but still believed. There is power when we believe. Something changes within us when we believe. Your outlook may look bleak but believe it's going to change. SEE the outcome as positive. Believe that things will change. Even when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, believe!
Comments
Post a Comment