February 18, 2012: Paper Gifts, Precious Gifts

3 gifts found on paper:

• a thank you note from a friend.  People don't send so many of those anymore, everything tends toward e-mail, text or Facebook message, but I love nothing better than an actual handwritten note.  First there is the delight of getting something in the mail other than bills and junk.  Then there is the anticipation of reading it, which always brings a smile.  But the goodness of it doesn't just end there.  I almost always save a note or card and prop it up on my kitchen windowsill or display it on my china cabinet.  There it brings joy for days to come as I spot it over and again and remember. 
• an envelope of old pictures.  Black and white pictures of my mom when she was a girl.  I love family pictures, and old photos have special meaning.  In this case, they allow a glimpse into a past before my time, to my heritage. What a treasure.
• a reminder from God.  This morning I read a devotional from Jesus Calling.  The reading blessed me, but then I got to the end where Scripture references are listed.  One of them was Zephaniah 3:17, The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.  I wrote about this verse earlier this week, saying that it's hard for me to believe that God actually delights in me.  Two days later He is showing me that his Word is truth, that he does indeed delight in me, his daughter.  God is so good!

January 31, 2012: A Late Night Gift

a gift found on a paper, in a person, in a picture:

• on a paper: full of middle of the night scribbles.  Last night I went to bed rather discouraged.  I had been trying to come up with ideas for a large group event for my Bible Study.  We usually schedule a couple of dates each year where all the groups come together for something special and that day is coming up quickly.  We've done some really neat things in the past, but I was coming up empty this time.  I thought maybe we'd have to repeat a past event or perhaps postpone or cancel it. My head barely hit the pillow when God began flooding my brain with ideas.  I jumped up and grabbed a pad of paper and began jotting them down.  I went to sleep happy but didn't remember it this morning until I saw the list on the counter in the bathroom. When I finally came to the end of my own resources, God stepped in with the gift he had for me all along.
• in a person: my husband.  He amazes me with his unfailing positive attitude.  He has a gift of being able to see good in everything.  Sometimes it used to irritate me that he was always cheerful, not it (mostly) just blesses me.
• in a picture: or a drawer full of pictures. My husband mentioned that he opened the desk drawer  and found a picture of us skiing in Colorado 25 years ago.  What makes that notable is that he just returned from a weekend skiing in Colorado with our 24 year old son.  I pulled open the same drawer tonight and came across an envelope of old black and white pictures taken when my mom and her siblings were children.  Pictures can be just images on paper, but they can also be gifts that bring back memories and tell stories of days gone by.