Who doesn’t love a good surprise?
Actually, I get more fun and joy out of surprising others with gifts or doing something special for them. But there was one Christmas where I accidentally ruined a surprise for my daddy.
When I was nine years old, my mom went back to work part time at the Halls Rexall Drug Store. That Christmas she had a little more money to spend on presents, so she wanted to buy something special for Daddy since he worked long hard hours.
We went to one of our favorite stores at the time— Sears. I loved that store, especially at Christmas. Not only did it have some of the best Christmas decorations, it also one of the best toy sections in town. Plus, it had a huge candy counter at the front doors that also had fresh hot peanuts. To this day, I still think about it from time to time.
I remember munching on my Spanish peanuts as we shopped around the store until we came across a man’s watch that was beautiful. Mom said Daddy had never had a watch that nice.
In my child’s mind, I envisioned Daddy’s surprised and happy face expression when opened his gift. After we got back home, she hid it and told me: “Don’t tell your daddy about his watch. We want it to a surprise.” I promised I wouldn’t tell him, but being as excited as I was, I did ask: “I can tell him he’s going to like it?” She agreed to that.
In a taunting voice, I would often sing to my daddy: “You’re gonna like your present.”
Are you wondering if I slipped and said/sang “You’re gonna like your watch”? I never did. Not one time did I tell him what it was.
Well, not directly.
I remember watching TV while daddy was sitting in his chair and reading a magazine. A watch commercial came on and I immediately turned to him and sang, “You’re gonna like your present.”
That’s when he said, “I know what it is.”
I challenged, “No you don’t!”
He answered, “It’s a watch. Every time a watch commercial comes on, you tell me about my present.”
At that point, I began to cry because I thought I had just ruined Christmas for my Daddy. Then he felt bad because he didn’t realize that would upset me so much.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
As my actions pointed to Daddy’s gift, we as believers should always live so that our actions point toward Jesus. Could somebody watch you and know you follow Him?
Looking back, I wish I had thought of throwing my daddy for a loop. I could’ve sung “You’re gonna like your present,” whenever we saw a commercial for men’s hair growth.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book, “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. She has two books out in her storytelling series “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.