GOOD GIFTS

The Lord is the giver of every good gift. Some times, we act a little bit like Him and give gifts to one another. Recently I received a gift that means a lot to me. It is a quilt, handmade by my sweet friend, Jeanne. She is moving away. Usually when a friend leaves, they get the gifts, but she gave me this beautiful reminder of the years we spent ministering side-by-side in our ladies Bible study, W.O.W. (Workmen of the Word).

A few things you should know. When she moved to El Paso, she had a vision to begin this Bible study for women as a place they could be encouraged to study God’s Word on their own and a enjoy the friendships of other women. Remember, she was new to El Paso. She had left behind her support group of friends; she wasn’t a well known face around our church, yet she stepped out in faith and obedience. The result has been many years of lots of women gathering for fellowship and being changed by the power of God’s own expressed Word. WOW.

That kind of living speaks to me. She didn’t sit around longing for what she left behind, or complaining about what she didn’t have. I bet she felt lonely and so she prayed and the Lord showed her that other women new to the area also felt lonely. In His strength she took action and did something about her situation and many lives have benefited.

This is a good example. At times we may feel frustrated or unhappy with the way our life is or about a certain situation. I do and some of my responses are: blame someone else, get grumpy, complain, feel sorry for myself. Or when things are hard we think God should do something—and get mad when He doesn’t. Maybe He is doing something, maybe He’s waiting for us to do something.

Well, that’s the story of this wonderful gift given to me. Now I want to tell you about the gift we gave our son to congratulate him for earning his PhD. As background you need to know that when Craig earned his medical degree his parents bought him a recliner. We wanted to do this for Josh but wanted him to choose the chair. He actually wasn’t crazy about the recliners he tried out but really loved another chair with ottoman. So that’s the one he got and he calls it ‘the chair of all chairs.’ It’s nice to receive gifts of love and it’s nice to give them too! Here’s to gift giving, let’s follow the example of the Giver of all things and give with great generosity and joy!