Bridging the Miles

I put my pen down and closed the copy of Daily Guideposts. I wrapped the book in shiny red Christmas paper—a gift for my daddy. I’d also prepared his stocking, filled with gag gifts and gadgets, as I’d done for years.

My husband and I lived in Lucketts, Virginia, and Daddy lived in Athens, Georgia, nearly 600 miles from us. I grieved at being so far away, especially since he was undergoing cancer treatments. We wanted him to come live with us, but he wasn’t ready to leave his home. At least we could visit for Christmas.

Daddy always loved his stocking. After he’d reveled in the corny items and retrieved the Hershey’s Kisses, I held out one more gift. The book.

God had shown me a way to bridge the miles. Throughout the Daily Guideposts, I’d written notes on special dates: holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and more notes at random. When I couldn’t be with him, the notes would remind him that I loved him and prayed for him daily.

After the holiday, I phoned to say we were safely home. Daddy chuckled and then admitted, “I couldn’t wait. As soon as you left, I thumbed through the book and read the notes…now I can enjoy them twice!”