Your True Gift

By Beau Abernathy

This is the story of two brothers on an unintended adventure.
This adventure will release the secret of "The Gift" every one of us receives from our Lord.
Life is unfair and hard.
But your life on earth is not all that there is.
What is YOUR GIFT?
Hint: It’s not what you think!
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18, NLT)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beau Abernathy
• Release date: Jul 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005096618

Beau Abernathy

Dr. Beau Abernathy lives in the Arctic Circle where he serves as an Assistant Principal and Adjunct Professor at University of Alaska while helping churches in smaller villages. He has an earned doctorate and has started or helped start six churches in four states as well as Japan and Mexico. He has written or co-authored 22 books. He is passionate about helping people connect with the living Lord. Free resources, courses, and books can be found at www.beauabernathy.org.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Gabe

Chapter 2 Two Weeks Earlier

Chapter 3 The Pool

Chapter 4 What is It?

Chapter 5 Where Are We?

Chapter 6 The Call

Chapter 7 Lost!

Chapter 8 The Guide

Chapter 9 Message Waiting

Chapter 10 What Now?

Chapter 11 Toward the City

Chapter 12 The School

Chapter 13 On the Way!

Chapter 14 The Cry

Chapter 15 Coming Here!

Chapter 16 Prayer or Police?

Chapter 17 The Presence

Chapter 18 Receiving The Gift

Conclusion

About Beau Abernathy

Connect With Beau Abernathy

Other books by Beau Abernathy

YOUR TRUE GIFT

Copyright 2020

by

Beau Abernathy

Published by Beau Abernathy at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture references marked NLT are from the New Living Translation, copyright 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Chapter 1

Gabe

Gabe Brooks was a highly unusual boy in almost every way. For one thing, he was in the hospital almost as much as he was out of it. For another, he was more mature than the majority of kids his age. And he also happened to have a secret – a secret that would kill him before long. It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in a hospital bed, the blankets drawn over his head like a tent, a small flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book propped open against the pillow. Gabe moved the tip of his tiny 0.5 pen over the words on the page in front of him, frowning as he looked for something that he could use to help him explain his thoughts to his mother and his doctor. He did not need to convince his brother. He was there when it happened.

What are you doing?

His mother entering the room interrupted Gabe’s thoughts. Her familiar, soothing voice brought him from under the blanket. She bent over his hospital bed and kissed him on the forehead. He looked up into her dark brown eyes. As usual, her hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head. Gabe thought she did this in an attempt to smooth out as many wrinkles as possible. She wore the same outfit Gabe had always seen her wear. Plain white dress, white shoes slightly scuffed from walking on concrete, and the nametag, Maria, just over the pocket of her dress on the left side. Years of waitressing had taken its toll on her knees and back. The stress of raising two young, energetic boys had etched deep grooves down the sides of her mouth. Gabe thought (but never said) it gave her the appearance of a ventriloquist dummy. She told her two sons that the wrinkles and health challenges she faced were genetic. Gabe knew it was from working too many hours for too many years with way too much stress. She always worried about money. Would they have enough for this week, much less for the rest of the month?

Oh, Mom, you know how I am, Gabe said. I’m just reading and stuff. He did not want to tell her what he was really doing. She had enough to worry about already.

Gabe’s mother smiled at him weakly, then rubbed her temple as if she had a headache. She knew all too well about her son’s vivid imagination and ability to compartmentalize everything. His mind constantly whirred about something to keep himself occupied. Ever since he was a child, he constantly took whatever toy he had and invented new ways to play with it. Gabe had never followed the picture on the box when putting together puzzles, playing with Lego’s or crafting an innovative way to keep himself entertained. It was usually too easy that way. Besides, the toys would last longer if he played with them in ways never intended by the manufacturers initially. When he ran out of creative ways to manipulate the toys, then he followed the instructions on the box.

What did the doctor say? Gabe’s mother asked. She looked into Gabe’s sky blue eyes, with just a fleck of brown in the lower part of his left eye. His dark curls; tan skin and boyish features made him an attractive young man. Gabe always had a quick smile that assured and reassured her as a mother constantly.

You know how doctors are, Gabe said, smiling. They’ll tell me anything to keep me going. He didn’t stay long. Gabe did not want to tell his mother what the doctor really said. She had enough to worry about.

Maria noticed her son’s blinks getting longer and longer. Are you getting tired?

You know how it is, Gabe replied. It just hits me and I can’t stop it. Sleep, like a rogue ocean wave, was crashing over him, pulling him in its undertow.

Just then an intense cough erupted from Gabriel. He gasped for breath, holding on to the edge of the bed. He reached for the plastic container the nurse had left the last time she was there for just such purposes. A rattle from his chest and Gabriel spit a piece of his lung into the container.

Maria pushed the nurse’s button. A short, stocky woman came rushing into the room. Maria pointed to Gabriel, putting her hand over her mouth. The nurse scurried over to Gabriel, removing the plastic container from his mouth, and putting it on the table. She turned calmly to Maria.

Your son needs to rest, she said simply.

Maria looked at her, then gave full vent to her frustration. "He has been in here a week now. Don’t you have something