Such a Small Gift

I am sure that many have been in line behind a small child in a cart that is checking you out.[is that the reason its called the "check-out line"?]   I have the reaction to smile at the child and usually they will smile back. You can get all kinds of reactions, from a shy child that hides behind "mommy" then peaks around to see if you are still there, to the child that is so tired they are spaced out and don't really see you standing there smiling, or the child that sees "stranger danger" and starts to wail. But usually they mirror what they see and smile back.

Once I get the sought after smile, I want more, a giggle, or outright laughter. It sure makes the line go so much faster and makes me feel so happy on the inside. Such a small gift - a smile - but such a huge effect it has on the giver and the receiver.

Last night as my husband came to bed [don't worry nothing crazy here] he reached out and touched my hand. His was freezing and as I took it made the comment you are so cold. As we lay there and held hands soon his was as warm as mine. Such a small gift - a warm hand- but a huge effect on the receiver - warmth shared.

At this time of year things are hectic and running together and sometimes overwhelming. But we need to take a moment and think about the "small Gift" that God has given in the form of Baby Jesus. A King in a small package, The Savior and Prince of Peace was perhaps the smallest gift but oh the huge effect He has had on the world! To all that believe He has given us so much, salvation, to be His child, freedom from fear, and the list goes on. Such a small gift - that Baby Jesus - such a huge effect on the world. Have you met him? He would love to meet you and have a huge effect on your life!
Have a Merry Christmas and check out that "small Gift".

Luke 2:11-12

 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

A Gift

This is the time of year that a lot of us are buying gifts and wrapping them with great expectation of the recipient being thrilled with the present. Have you ever given a gift that was never opened?

I had given a gift that I thought would be well received and the recipient so happy to get it. I waited to hear her joyous news that the gift was the perfect thing that she had been waiting for. I waited, and waited, and waited. But she never opened the gift. She still has the opportunity to open it but, has chosen not to. I was so sad that this well thought out gift is still sitting in her home perhaps tucked away in a closet somewhere. Had I done something or said something to make her not want to open a gift from me? Did she not need a gift that was free? Did she not care about getting a gift? Has she held onto it so long that she has forgotten?

I haven't forgotten! I wait each day to see or hear from her that she has found the gift and opened it and is enjoying it.

I have just gone shopping for another gift to give to another loved one. It was such great fun to pick out the perfect small gifts and to take them home and put them together just so. The anticipation of seeing the delight on the faces of those to receive them was exciting. I informed the loved one that all she had to do was come to my place and I had a bag of goodies waiting. She informed me that she would be there.

Guess what she didn't come. I was disappointed but did not give up. I saw her the very next day and reminded her of the presents and she told me she had forgot but could she come now? YES! She was so grateful for the presents and told me they were just perfect. She excitedly took them with her. She called the next day to tell me again how perfect they were.

You know what? God has given us a FREE gift. A gift that has been thought out and is absolutely perfect for you and for me! He loving selected and gave His Only Son for you and me. Do we do like the first person in the story just set Him aside and never accept Him? Or do we do what the second person did, even though the gift was forgotten for a little while it WAS opened and loved.

This is the season for gift giving and God has the ultimate gift waiting for you! Won't  you "open" it?

John 3:16

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Whose Plan

I was shopping the other day and saw what I thought would be the perfect project for my granddaughter and I to tackle. There were these very cute buttons, Christmas lights, a few funky reindeer, and one Santa going down a chimney. I thought wouldn't it be fun to make a necklace so she could wear it to school! So I purchased them and some of that stretchy elastic to put it all together. Such a wonderful plan!

I had it all laid out in my mind just what it would look like and how we would have fun doing it together. So I asked her if she would like to make a Christmas necklace. She was very excited when she saw the cute buttons placed before her.

We got right to work. She made a pattern with the different buttons first, then we started to string them. It went well but the buttons didn't stay where we wanted so we had to rethink and then start again. This time we put a knot on each button and held them in place. Perfect. It was so cute. I handed it to her and she put it on. Wonderful, or so I thought.

About 2 hours later she came to me rather sheepishly and told me she wanted to give the necklace to one of her little friends. Well, I was very proud of her not wanting to keep it but give her creation to someone else. I told her that was a super idea but what was the problem? She opened her hand and the necklace that we had perfected was now in a ball of knots of reindeer and lights. Santa was so tangled that I couldn't find him.

I tried to hide my distress when she said "Can you fix it Nana?" I told her I would try. It was now a gift after all.

I set to work trying to find an end to try to unravel the tight ball of knots. I worked for about 1/2 hour struggling. I almost made it to Santa, who was the center piece of the necklace, but the last half was not salvageable. I finally gave up and cut each button off, kept the pattern she had set and restrung the necklace to its original look.

We put it on a paper with tape so it wouldn't tangle again and she painstakingly wrapped it for her friend.

I started to think about how sometimes the plans I make in life are like that necklace. They sound perfect, easy to complete, but end up in a "ball of knots". I need to start over and this time go to the Creator and seek his plan. His plan always turns out into the perfect finished project. I need to start with Him first so I don't waste time trying to unravel my feeble attempts.

How are your plans? Are you starting in the right place? God has a plan for you. Why not check it out?

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Expectancy!

We have been in search of a new church family since we have moved here. Not an easy thing to do, replace your "family" with a new one. We have had to do this a few times and it is not something I look forward to because you are constantly comparing old and new. Have you been there?

Well, the pastor had a new take on the Christmas theme, which I am sure is a difficult thing to do as everyone in the listening seats is thinking,  "I know this story by heart" and starts to zone out. He had the stage loaded with giant presents with labels on them. He started with the longest, "EXPECTANCY" the label read. Hmm let's see what he has to say.

He talked about how the Bible tells of the coming Messiah in the old testament. God gives us great details.

Who-Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Where-Micah 5:2

 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

 

Then he went to the new testament and started sharing about the expectancy of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Mary. As he moved on to the shepherds in the fields I started to get this picture in my head. Let me share with you a little of the expectancy I started to feel myself.

 

Can you see God sitting on his throne and gathering his angels to give them their new assignment and explain what was about to take place. These are not the kind of angels we see on TV or are painted in pictures, these are the Warriors of heaven that do battle, they are the ones we read about in the bible, the ones that light up the night sky with terrifying glory. Can you see them on bended knee staring at God and hearing for the first time what will happen next. God is going to send Jesus to earth as a child to save the world and their job is to share this wonderful news with those shepherds in the field near Bethlehem. Can you imagine their joy! They listen as the angel chosen to tell the shepherds finishes and they can no longer hold in their expectancy and start glorifying God in a warrior type shout. Well, no wonder the shepherds were afraid, sky lights up, voices singing, shouting, cheering;

 

 

Luke 2:13-14

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

I guess I missed the rest of the pastors words because I was so taken in with the scene in my mind, just imagine the whole thing taking place! I pray you catch the EXPECTANCY of this time of the year.

 

Please sit back and let this wash over you and enjoy! It is a group called Pentatonix.

 

 

Need a Reminder?

This is the time of year that everyone is talking about giving thanks. We are given ideas on what to be thankful for. I wonder if that means we don't give thanks enough?

I receive a few devotions through my email and they are reminding me to be thankful for family. Well, this has been a very trying time with family. I am sure you could relate. Kids are screwed into the ceiling about now with all the "things" they would like to receive. Tempers are gearing up for the holiday spirit. Faces you pass are weary already. You have seen and heard them in the grocery stores.
I am thankful for family, even through the trying times as well as the good times, as I am sure you are if you look past the hype.

We are told to be thankful for warm homes and food on the table. I know we are all thankful for that and don't have to be reminded. As we smell the turkey cooking and pies baking how could we forget to be thankful for that? Right?

But what about things like the love your see in your grandchild's eyes just there for You? Are you thankful for that? You bet you are! How about times shared with a spouse or calls from someone you haven't seen in a while. What about a text that tells you they miss and love you? Wow those are special things to give thanks for.

What about eyes to see the snow falling so white and silent, or ears to hear the sound of children laughing with their parents? How about a God that loves you so very much He couldn't stand to be separated from you so He sent His very own child to bring you to Himself. Now there is something to be thankful about for eternity! I know if we take just a moment from our harried schedule we have so very much to be thankful for that is not just rote reply.

I guess this is another reminder to give thanks, we have so many blessing to count and give thanks for. Start to count your and you will probably agree.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

 

Same or different

I have been blessed with 2 beautiful granddaughters. They couldn't be more different. One is a beautiful strawberry blonde with crystal blue eyes. The other has red hair and hazel eyes. One is creative, she can take tape and a piece of paper and make a portrait of her Nana. The other one tells you what to say when you are playing with her.{bit on the bossy side, you bet} One of them is a dreamer, but there is not a thing that she doesn't notice when she comes for a visit. "Is that new candy in the dish Nana?" Or "When did you get that new tablecloth?" The other one will have conversations that are about her. "Did you see my new tooth?" " I am dressed pretty today."

They are from the same family and oh so different. Do I love them differently? Yes. Does that sound scandalous? Well, this is what I mean, I love them both equally but the character of each thrills me in different ways. One of them keeps me laughing and how I love and need to laugh. [don't we all need to laugh more?] The other one longs to do the things I love to do. She wants to learn how to sew, crochet, and make crafts. [who wouldn't love a child like this?]

Made me think of God. We are all from the same family, human. Does God love us differently? Maybe. Perhaps just I love my grandchildren differently he loves us differently. He created you just so you could bring him glory.  I am sure we are different you and I, but we were both meant to bring our Father glory and praise and joy. You can bring it one way, like the granddaughter that longs to do creative things, or you can be like the other granddaughter that makes me smile. Just know this without a doubt God adores his children. He longs to be with you and enjoy each moment of your life. Perhaps you can make him smile today, just be who He created you to be!

Luke 18:16

But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

The Missing Piece [Peace}

My grand daughter, who is the ripe old age of 8, has a new vocabulary, a very limited one, but new just the same. The words, "I'm bored" seem to flow off the tip of  her tongue regularly. I will have to admit that she has been playing with just a few choice toys as we have been on this adventure now for over 2 months and all her regular toys are still in the moving van waiting the final destination.

So with the latest "I'm bored " her mom found a jigsaw puzzle in a cabinet where we are staying and told her what fun it was to put together to see the picture come to life. It was a picture of too many cats sitting on shelves too close together for my liking but we pressed on. The box said 300 pieces. Good not too few and not too many. So we started by telling her the way to go about this new challenge. We dumped the box and began turning over all the pieces. That was "way boring". Now we were looking for the pieces with a straight edge so we could make the border. Her interest sparked but quickly faded as there were so many straight edges that didn't connect immediately. But her mom and I persevered. We got the border finished that evening. {did I mention the word addiction?]

The next morning we went to  work on the puzzle and her mom had small parts connected but not in the right places yet just small scenes around the puzzle. That  intrigued the 8 year old. She could work on a small scene and work she did. Every piece was a victory and we celebrated each one!

We had the puzzle almost together but there seemed to be so few pieces left and too many large gaps. My daughter stated, "I think there are pieces missing." We continued to press on. We finished the puzzle but there were only 299 pieces so we had  a gap in our finished product. We were elated that we were finished but disappointed that there was a missing piece.

We all went to bed. The next morning at breakfast my husband, [who hung in the background watching the whole thing] informed us that he had found the missing piece. What? Where? Really? So as a group we hurried into the living room to inspect his claim. We looked where the missing piece had been and low and behold it was there. No, wait something was not right. My husband had meticulously cut out a piece of paper to fit the hole but was limited to the colors he could color it {only a red or black pen]. He did a really good job but it wasn't quit right. We all had a good laugh and left the puzzle there for a few days and a little girl wasn't as bored as she had been.

Sometimes life feels like that 300 piece puzzle with only 299 pieces. We are unable to find the piece [peace] that we search for. We could be looking in the wrong places. Perhaps we search for peace in our spouse, or the shopping spree that we are sure is the missing peace. But the word of God states

Isaiah 26:3You will keep in perfect peace    those whose minds are steadfast,    because they trust in you.

Don't try to fix things on your own [cut out your own peace] but see the Prince of Peace and He will provide it for you and it will be the real thing not something almost there.