Carey White sat outside in the early morning coolness, this was a nice time of day, she thought, no children yet, just the birds and me, and time to think about another curve the year had dumped.
The curve happened as she was on the way to accept an invitation to a Christmas Eve Service at a Church that was a ten minute walk from the house they lived in, Emma was the first to notice her father Bruce, she was also the first to give him a hug. Kirsty and Andrew needed some encouragement and a nod from Carey to join their sister and give their father a hug too.
Emma was the talkative one, she told her dad where they were going and not wanting to upset Emma and she guessed Kirsty and Andrew, Carey shrugged and said that Bruce could join them. He should have warned her that he was going to show up Carey had thought.
Carey was surprised that children presented the story about the birth of Jesus, for the Christmas Eve Service. Large fabric angels appearing in the roof of the Church at the right moment in the play, impressed Carey, and she was even more impressed when her children were given a bag of lollies as they left the Church. She had not sung carols for a long time either. The night had been good, even if Bruce has tagged along.
Christmas Day was better than she thought it would be, she had managed to save some money and buy reasonable presents for the kids and Bruce left presents too, before he left, he also said he was sorry he left his family six months ago and would like to try to come back into their lives. Before Christmas Eve Carey would not have considered the apology, but after the Christmas Eve Service, she wondered if it was possible to forgive him. Carey realised that she was not the only one who missed him.
The year had been one of change, starting with a bad storm that destroyed the business where Bruce worked, and a boss that felt he was too old to rebuild. Bruce could not find another job in the area, so they had made the decision to sell their house, they could not afford the mortgage with only Carey's part time job. Just after they moved into the rental, Bruce left, Carey knew he had been hurting, but leaving her and the kids, she hadn't understood.
Carey heard the back door open, she knew one of her children was up, Emma was walking towards her carrying a present. When Emma reached her mum she handed her the present and said, 'Santa didn't remember you mum, so I have a present for you.'
Carey accepted her present, wondering what her daughter could possibly be giving her.
'Come on mum open it.'
Carey apologised for being slow and opened her daughter's present. Inside were two feathers, and they were ever so special, because they were a gift from the heart. Carey suddenly realised that this was the second gift from the heart she had received, the first was at the Christmas Eve Service when the Pastor said that the birth of Jesus was about forgiveness. Carey thought if God can forgive the world and Bruce, then perhaps she could work at forgiving Bruce, because forgiveness was a gift from the heart too.
