February 24
Scripture: Rom 12:15
Source author: Benjamin Venable, as told to Jeanette Levellie
February 24
Noah’s Best Gift Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. —Romans 12:15
Why are you crying, Daddy?” I hadn’t noticed three-year-old Noah enter the living room. I hurriedly swiped my bare arm across my tear-slickened face. The obituary sheet I’d been trying to complete lay unfinished beside me. How could I condense my brother’s life to one fill-in-theblank page? As children, Daniel and I looked out for each other while Mom worked. Now my best buddy and only sibling was gone, snatched from our family at age twenty-nine. I choked out words. “I’m sad because Uncle D died.” Noah said nothing, just gazed at me for a moment, then toddled away. When he returned, he held out his favorite toy, a Pooh Bear attached to a silky blanket. “Feel how soft, Daddy,” he said, caressing my wet hand, then my cheek, with the blue satin border. “Doesn’t that make you feel better?” A smile took my face by surprise. With something as simple as a stuffed toy, God reached out to start to heal my broken
heart through the love of my new best buddy.
Sometimes love is best shown by sharing what is precious to us. — Benjamin Venable, as told to Jeanette Levellie —