Nana's Gift and the Red Geranium

By Janette Oke

Bask in the sunshine of two heartwarming stories from best-selling author Janette Oke! In Nana’s Gift, a matriarch’s heirloom pearls serve to remind a young woman of what’s truly priceless. And in The Red Geranium, a loving child offers his great-grandmother something uniquely precious—and unforgettable.

Two beautiful stories—gifts from the heart of immeasurable value.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Release date: Apr 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781598567236

Janette Oke

Bestselling author Janette Oke is celebrated for her significant contribution to the Christian book industry. Her novels have sold more than 30 million copies, and she is the recipient of the ECPA President's Award, the CBA Life Impact Award, the Gold Medallion, and the Christy Award. Janette and her husband, Edward, live in Alberta, Canada.

Book preview

CONTENTS

Copyright

A Note to the Reader

Nana’s Gift

Dedication

The Plan

Gifts

Lizzie

Anniversaries

Weddings

Nana & Beth

Beth and the Pearls

The News

Questions

The Legacy

Homegoing

The Red Geranium

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

About the Author

Nana’s Gift & The Red Geranium (eBook edition)

Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC

P. O. Box 3473

Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473

eBook ISBN 978-1-59856-723-6

Nana’s Gift © 1996 Janette Oke

The Red Geranium © 1995 Janette Oke

The 2011 edition of the two novels in one volume by arrangement with Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover photo: Thinkstock, George Doyle

Due to technical issues, this eBook may not contain all of the images or diagrams in the original print edition of the work. In addition, adapting the print edition to the eBook format may require some other layout and feature changes to be made.

First eBook edition — March 2011

A Note to the Reader

Dear Reader,

The two short stories contained in the book you are holding are very different in presentation yet both share the same underlying message. The things that we give as tokens are not really the most important aspect of the gift. The true gift is the love that prompts the desire to express to another person that he or she is an important part of our world. Those we love add a dimension to our life that only they can, and it brings a richness and joy that gives us pleasure and fulfillment.

The two gifts the givers presented in these two novellas were very different in monetary value—but both were given out of hearts of love. Both gifts were equally appreciated by the individuals who understood the messages the gifts bore. A husband’s desire to in some way express to his wife how much he valued her partnership, her support, her love, over the many years they had spent together. In turn, she shares her gift with the daughters and granddaughters she loves. And a small boy’s fumbling way to try to express to a dearly loved great-grandmother that he misses the closeness they had shared.

When we take a close look at life, isn’t that what it is all about? Relationships. Love. If the love is missing as the motive for the gift, it loses its value. No matter its monetary worth it is simply a means to impress, strike a bargain, gain some manipulative ground, or relieve some guilt. On the other hand, the plucked flower crushed in the small fist of a smiling child can carry a weary mother through an entire day. A simple, Here, Mom. Let me help you with that, can be worth more than a diamond clasp. And a thoughtful token from a mate who realizes that this—this something—will bring joy is able to make the heart sing. It’s all about love. Love is what we all need to make life more than a meaningless merry-go-round. Love is as vital as breath itself. That was how the Father designed us. To love and be loved. For we were created in his image—and God is love. And speaking of gifts, the greatest of these is love.

— Janette Oke

Nana’s Gift

* * *

Dedicated to my

children and grandchildren

in memory of their

great-grandmother and

great-great-grandmother

Violet Dell Ruggles

whose life taught much

about love and faith.

* * *

Clock on mantle.psdribbon01_theplan.jpg

The chiming of clocks having long since replaced the duties of a town crier, the mantel clock in the living room began its announcement. The man seated at the kitchen table, bent over the papers and the ledger scattered before him, lifted his head and counted without conscious thought. Twelve chimes. This time the last note signaled not just a new hour but a new year. Another year gone by. It seemed they passed so quickly. Much faster than when he was a younger man.

Not that he was old. Fifty-one was not old. But a long day in the fields wresting a living from the sometimes stubborn soil made him realize that he was slowing down. He didn’t have the drive—the push—that he’d had in his younger years. The will was still there. But it was more determination than energy that now ran his days.

He sighed, then nodded as though in agreement, head tipped slightly, as the last stroke for the midnight hour faded. From now on, each minute ticked away by the mantel clock would already be spending the precious wealth of time in another year.

Had Lizzie heard the clock? Did she know that a new year had begun? Was she listening for his footsteps that would bring him to their bed?

It had been his little ritual ever since they had first married—this staying up to figure out accounts on the last evening of the year. At first Lizzie had protested. New Year’s Eve was a time for merriment. For celebration, she’d insisted. For looking back on the year past and being thankful for the good—and there had always been things to be thankful for—and reaching forward into the New Year, hoping that life would be just a little easier. That the good, through the grace of God, would outweigh the difficult. That was Lizzie’s reasoning.

But Duncan had responded that this—this accounting—was his way of doing that. He didn’t suppose that Lizzie understood. But as he went through the pile of bills and noted that he had somehow managed to pay them off one by one,