My husband and I put up our Christmas tree today. Several years ago, when my father passed away, I bought a Christmas ornament to remind me of his passing. Today when I got it out, I read the words on it: Every life leaves something beautiful behind.
The ornament is in the shape of a seashell. I didn’t think too much about it when I bought it. My father passed away in November. I went to the store and just found whatever I could with the year that was a memorial ornament. This year as I looked at it, I realized that God truly has a plan and there are no coincidences.
When I read the words and looked at the shell, the first thing I thought was all the family vacations my family took to the gulf coast of Texas. My mom never learned how to swim and feared the water immensely. She never would get in very far. However, my dad, even though he was a fearful person, was willing to go out into the water and play in the surf with my brother and I. As an adult, I know so much more about shark attacks, rip tides and drownings that I fear the waters knowing how easily things can go wrong. I can appreciate how amazing my father was. He faced his fears because he took us out into the water and we had fun.
One of my best memories was going down to the coast right after a big storm. My father showed me that in between the swells of the waves, I could dig down into the sand and find lots of sand dollars. Normally, they were much deeper or further out in the ocean, but because of the storm, we had the opportunity to find them. We had so much fun on that trip looking for sand dollars. He really connected with me, and we enjoyed doing something together. He may not have been the best father or great at talking, but when I look at a seashell, I remember how he made an extra effort on those trips to connect with me.
There’s no coincidence that the only ornament that I could find that year was a seashell. That was the ornament I needed to find so that later on I could remember my father. I needed something that would spark that special memory for me. I have faith that every life really does leave something beautiful behind. That something is love.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
