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Simple Gift

Christianity, Spiritual Encouragement, Truth, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

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Simple Gift

She glanced at the huge box on the table. Could it be hers? What could possibly be in that beautiful box? How long would she have to wait to find out? The suspense was almost more than her little 9 year old heart could handle!

Her daddy had brought the large box in and sat it on the table. He had looked at her and grinned, then walked out of the room. She sat on the couch, unable to take her eyes off the box. Her daddy had been gone on a business trip and always found something to bring home to her. This had to be one of those gifts!

She sat still for what seemed like an eternity. Where did he go? Should she open the box? Should she wait until he came back into the room and ask him? Should she get up and go find him? She tried to keep her mind occupied, but her mind would not concentrate on anything but that huge box!

In a few minutes her daddy walked back into the room. Her anticipation had grown.  She sat waiting for his instructions. None came. He just sat down in his chair. “What is he waiting for?” she thought to herself. “Is that for me or not?” she thought.

Five minutes passed and she tried to act as if she had not noticed the box, but it was driving her crazy. When she looked at her daddy, he smiled politely and simply looked back out the window. This was torture!

Another five minutes drove the daughter practically into madness. She had always been taught to be polite and was not sure if she should just come out and ask for the box. Finally she asked her daddy, “Daddy, I have to ask…is the gift for me?” “Why yes my precious daughter, the gift is yours.” The daughter jumped up and went to get the gift.

As she opened it she found so many of her favorite things. She found books, seashells, flowers, a picture of a bird and music. All of these things were precious to her.  She loved to read and write, give gifts of beauty to others, sing, play the piano.  She received the gifts with such thanksgiving. Daddy was so pleased, he loved being able to gift his little girl.

“Daddy” she asked. “Why did you wait so long to tell me the gift was mine?” “Well sweetheart” he replied, “I was waiting for you to simply ask for it. The gift was yours the whole time. You just had to make the decision to receive it.”

What gifts has the Father given you that you have not received? Has the Father offered you the gift of salvation? What are you waiting for? Has He given you gifts in which you can use to glorify Him and serve others? Or are you leaving them to sit in the box? Has the Father simply offered you the beauty of a seashell, but have you looked past it not receiving it as the gift of beauty to bring you joy? Whatever the gift is..our Father is a gentleman, and he will not force it on you. He gives out of love.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.” 1 Corinthians 12:4

What gifts has the Father left for you to find and receive? Believe me, it is not a mystery…you won’t have to look hard…

Be blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible*

Simple Tree

Christianity, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Spiritual Encouragement, Uncategorized, , , , ,

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Simple Tree

When I was a little girl, a long, long time ago…during the lazy days of summer I was often bored. I would lay my quilt under the trees and play with my little sister, brother, trucks and dolls. I thought summer would never end.

We often times spent the whole day under one particular tree. It was simply called the “mimosa tree”. It was the loveliest trees in our yard. It the most wonderful pink, feathery flowers. The tree also had fan-like leaves that we removed and threw as confetti, gathered in a pile to represent food.

While we could sit, play, eat and do all types of things under the tree, we were told to never climb the tree. Since my brother and I were only one year apart, and I was the eldest…I did what all good older sisters do…I challenged him to climb the tree…high.

The reason that we weren’t to the tree became very apparent one afternoon. Again, being the responsible, elder sister…I had challenged my brother up the tree and I dutifully followed him. “Creak, crack…crash!” down we came with a thud. Thankfully we only had the breath knocked out of us. But we finally understood the warning.

The mimosa tree has very soft wood. Too much weight on any given limb causes it to bend and break easily. While it was a delight to play under, playing or partaking in the tree caused problems.

Genesis 2:8-9 “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of that ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “ vs 16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

What does that have to do with a simple mimosa tree? It is the same principle. God had a provision for Adam and Eve in the garden as He has for us today. We still make that choice. If we choose evil, we separate ourselves from God, just like Adam and Eve.

But the same is true of eating the good. We participate in many “good” things. We can feed the hungry, clothe the poor, teach young children, attend church every time the door opens. While these things are not “bad” in and of themselves, in our busyness, we can be separated from God.

The “weight” of these activities can cause us to tumble and fall…miss our time with the Father! If we do things simply because they are good, we miss the entire point. These things are done because of our intimate relationship with Him and because of surrender as He does these things through us.

As my mother warned us not to climb too high, we were allowed to admire the tree, play under the tree, but not truly partake in the tree. She knew, like our Abba Father does that there would be consequences for partaking in that “forbidden fruit”. She knew we would take a tumble!
And for what it is worth…things sometimes do come back around. Same warning, but my eldest this time. And yes, up the tree he went. And yes, down to the ground he fell. Like his mother and uncle before him, no broken bones, but a lesson learned. I wonder if I will ever repeat this story to any grandchildren?

Be blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible*

Simple Sand

homeschooling, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Spiritual Encouragement, Uncategorized, , , , ,

sandcastle-beach_300

Simple Sand

The ocean, a beach…and sand. Sand has some wonderful qualities, and some not so wonderful qualities if you have small children! I remember vacations where I thought we had gotten all the sand washed off before we entered the vacation dwelling, only to find it all over the floor as we walked…..over and over.

But the good qualities out weigh the bad (as long as there are not cats around). As a family on vacation, one of our favorite activities was building sandcastles and the artistic ones of the family loved sculpting different marine animals. I was constantly amazed by what one could do with sand!

One year we all worked hard to make a fort full of castles. Not just one castle with several individual sections (aka buckets), but a fort with a number of castles, a moat, and even a draw bridge over that moat! It took all day actually, and we all put our hearts in to it!

People walked by and admired it. Some stopped to chat, others took pictures. This was a FORT. Lots of work. Lots of fun.

Looking at our finished work with pride, we decided a dinner meal might be necessary. No one really wanted to leave. We all wanted to protect it. But the reality of its disappearance was in the future, and while unspoken at this point…we all dreaded it.

As soon as we came back from dinner, we all wanted to take a late walk on the beach to see if the fort had survived. It had…it was intact! There was hope!

We watched the sun set and knew we had to leave. “Maybe it will be here in the morning” one child said. “Yeah, I know it will…we worked so hard!” Ah gees, we had to tell them that it would most likely be gone in the morning. We felt like we were awful parents at that declaration!

But the fact was simple. The foundation was not firm. It was not secure. It was fragile. It would not stand. Sand shifts.

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:26-27

The next morning we did not hurry to go down to our spot. We knew what we would find. Or not find. The fort was gone. The fort was not only built on the sand, it was built out of sand!

“We should have built the fort out of something else on the concrete sidewalk.” “Yeah, it would still be there this morning if we did!”
Two weeks later there was a fort, built out of popsicle sticks and rocks…on the concrete patio at our house. We finally had to convince them to take it down…because it wasn’t coming down any other way!
Be blessed~
IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

*google search image, NIV Bible*