The heirloom nobody wanted

Habits get handed down like furniture. Every family seems to have that one ugly lamp. Nobody likes it, and it still moves from house to house, because nobody wants to haul it out to the curb. Plenty of habits travel exactly like that.

Maybe you picked it up watching someone. A parent, an older cousin, the friend who offered first. Maybe you started it all on your own. Either way, somebody's watching you now. A niece, a younger brother, the kid next door. The cigarette was planning to ride along with you into their lives. It just lost its ride.

Nobody downstream will know what it cost. They won't see the urges you outlasted or the heavy days you carried. They'll grow up thinking we don't was always normal. That's how the best gifts work. Nobody sees them, and everybody stands on them.

God sees the whole line, where it ran and where it ended. Put your lamp on the curb today. Clear out anything left from the old routine, even the backup you forgot you hid. Pray it as you carry it out. Let it end with me, Lord. The line ran through a lot of houses. It stops at mine.