Minute by Minute

Every Christmas, the parents of three grown children divided their holiday celebrations among the three different families. But with the difficulties involved in holiday preparation and extensive travel, sometimes they were tempted to throw up their hands and say, “It’s too much! It’s just not worth the effort.” Whenever either of the parents got that feeling of exasperation, they would give the other a wink and say, “Long walk, dear, long walk,” and laugh as they continued their holiday plans.

You see, “Long walk” was a code phrase. They began using it after hearing an old story about a young native boy who gave his missionary teacher an exquisite seashell as a Christmas gift. The boy had to walk miles to a particular bay which was the only place where such shells existed. “How wonderful of you to have traveled so far for this present,” the teacher said. The boy’s eyes lit up as he replied, “Long walk is part of the gift.” For the…