gifts

Greatest Gift

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

“Only when you first unwrap the gifts of blessings to you can you be wrapped up as a gift of blessings to others. Only when you are overwhelmed with the goodness of God can you overflow with the goodness of God to others.” – Ann Voskamp “The Greatest Gift”

May we be overwhelmed this Christmas season with the goodness of God. The greatest gift ever given to us is His presence. May the overflow of His gift of Himself and His goodness leak out of our hearts, our eyes, our mouths, our voices, and our hands spilling onto everyone we encounter. Blessings upon blessings, gift upon gift – ripples of peace, love, and kindness spinning and circling wider and wider. His coming, Advent, happening everywhere.

Photo by Tofros.com

Shafts of Light

~ Extravagant Hope ~ Leave a comment

The Gifts wait with anticipation in the incense-filled room. The voices of the beloved rise and fall in a constant blend of timbres and tones, each voice precious, seen and so very loved. The Gifts love to watch the Creator as He gently lifts and listens to each request, praise, cry for help. Sometimes there are no human words, but utterances of the Spirit as deep calls out to deep. These are the voices of His precious ones. Each one cherished. As He lifts each voice and holds it carefully in His hands, He sings and prophesies over it. The Gifts thrum with excitement as they await His command. With a nod of His head, Peace is sent forth. Descending from the heavenlies, Peace makes a way through the swirling turbulence of humanity to the dear one asking her Father to please blanket her in His peace. Gently surrounding, above and below and on all sides, Peace wraps up the precious one and whispers the words to her spirit that it was sent forth to proclaim. She feels the soft warmth begin to soothe and soften her fearful heart.  It is supernatural, this sending forth, as Peace simultaneously, yet personally, ministers to thousands of souls at once – the Father’s voice and love flowing down and through and within each of His children. Mystery.

Next to descend on a golden shaft of light is Joy. With excitement, Joy finds the man who calls out for relief. He is stuck in the never-ending spiral of his daily grind. He wants to feel alive again, so Joy dashes in with bursts of lightness, humor and the beauty of hidden blessings revealed.

At times, the sounds of the rising voices make the Father smile. The Gifts love to see how attentive He is to each and every soul. No one goes unnoticed. No one is lost in the crowd of millions. Each and every voice is completely unique, designed with forethought and purpose; none better than the other, all equal and perfectly loved. There are also times that He weeps with those who mourn. The tears that His beloved cry are never wasted, not one single tear drop. He knows the origin and reason for each one. He meticulously collects them and safely places them in lovely crystal jars that have an eternal purpose and plan. They will not be wasted.  

The next Gifts sent forth are Protection and Healing. These two often travel together. They descend on a powerful beam of light piercing evil and darkness. These Gifts find the ones ensnared and tangled in chains, fear and illness. The Father infuses these gifts with His authority, power and love. Chains break, strongholds crumble, illnesses flee and darkness bows. Gentleness and abounding Mercy follow Protection and Healing, as hearts, souls and bodies are healed, restored and led into His Light.

Discernment and Wisdom respond to His command and travel on gentle shafts of light seeking those who are lost and alone, overwhelmed by choices and clamoring world-voices. These Gifts infuse the overwhelmed soul with calm, direction and clarity straight from the Father’s heart. The webs and twisty-looking paths that shroud the way forward are made clear, as the debris and obstacles of self-reliance are rolled away. Trust accompanies Discernment and Wisdom, as those coming out of the shadows need Trust to clearly hear and follow His voice.

Patiently waiting, Rest is summoned and joyfully descends on a beam of light infused with lovely colors. Rest flows like a sparkling creek and carefully washes away the busyness and exhaustion that covers so many of the beloved. The weariness of fixing, controlling, worrying and rehearsing piles on and sticks to His loved ones like a balm of good works that has gone rancid. In the beginning, the balm feels soothing and necessary, but as rest, peace and joy are sacrificed by the doing and the helping, the balm becomes suffocating and immobilizing. How beautiful it is to see the caked-on debris slough off in the stream of living water that beckons the weary one to rest in green pastures. Victory.

From His omnipresent vantage point, the Creator watches and is pleased as His love-gifts, in radiant light, descend continuously and purposefully to His beloved. He intimately knows where each and every shaft of light is going and declares that these Gifts will not return to Him void but will accomplish all that He desires and declares.

The Gifts

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The Gifts

The day is winding down. Putting on the tea kettle, I stand at the kitchen sink looking over the garden in the slowly dimming light. There are still birds and plump squirrels investigating the bird feeders and taking their evening baths before the sun fully sets.  The frogs in the marshy area of the open space nearby are beginning their evening chorus. Something about their song is soothing and I look forward to this acapella performance as a gift from nature that I get to unwrap.

The shouting kettle calls that it’s teatime, so I pour hot, steamy water into my mug with the word Serenity written in bold, black letters; the aroma of the Portland Blend black tea rising up. My hands are warm from the tea. A sense of calm settles on my shoulders as my mind wanders back over my day, recounting what transpired and all the blessings…

As usual, the dog and cats woke me up early, insistent that the established routine be followed. They don’t forget, so it’s best to get up and start the day – besides, coffee will be waiting! Their dependence on me for all their needs struck me. These beautiful creatures love and need me. It is wonderful to be needed and trusted. The gift of joy and unconditional love they offer in return is invaluable.

After tending to the animals, I spent the morning volunteering with other lovely people who have a heart for those who need extra help feeding their families. I’m tired at the end of the shift, but it’s a good tired. Helping take some of the worry and fear off of the shoulders of a weary mom, a struggling dad, a tired grandma is humbling and it’s a gift.

After lunch, a much-needed chat with some amazing women with the same fears, worries, and unknowns while our sons serve and protect our country is something I will never take for granted. These brave women fully understand it all. The support we give and receive is a beautiful and treasured gift. The heartfelt conversations and prayers of dear friends and fellow military moms and the safety to share those parts of life mean more to me than these precious women realize. They are a gift that I don’t take lightly.

As I ponder the events of my day, I see that there were many small, but not insignificant gifts that God showered on me. Things that might go unnoticed unless I looked for them.  Such as a good parking place, joyful birdsong, the way sunlight filters through clouds, a beautiful rainbow, a compliment from a stranger, and giving and receiving kind and encouraging words.

By intentionally seeking out these gifts places in our lives each day, our perspective can change from one of anxious worry to one of hopeful anticipation of the lovely gifts we will unwrap as our day begins.

There is joy in simply thinking about the intentionality and love our Father has for each of us. It is hard to grasp that I am so loved and cherished that I have the undivided attention of the God of the universe as He crafts and blends up joy, surprise, laughter, peace and intricate detail into every day I am blessed to wake up. He is doing this for you, too.

There will be days that are beyond hard to endure, with unwanted things that blindside, hurt and wound us. That is never to be dismissed or minimized. My limited understanding cannot explain it. But perhaps, in the midst of all the hard and unwanted, the calm and the peaceful, there are deeply personal and breathtaking gifts waiting to be unwrapped. I believe He delights in placing them in the midst of our messy and chaotic humanity – waiting for us to slow, to settle a bit, to look around in expectation of the good and the lovely because He is good, lovely, praiseworthy, and can be trusted. I love what Psalm 37:3 & 4 say, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (NIV).

As I settle in for the night under my blankets with softly purring cats I feel a sense of calm settle over me.  Yes, there is still chaos and hard things swirling and poking for a place to seep in and cause worry, but the weight of those things are kept at bay, at least for the moment, as I focus my attention on the gifts I unwrapped today and allow my mind to wander and wonder at what I might find tomorrow… James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (NIV)

Beauty

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Middle school. What is the first  word that pops into your mind when you hear the words middle school? Awkward , the fear of being different, of not having a “place”. Much of my thought life in middle school was taken up with concern over where I belonged. Who would talk to me today? Would my friends still be my friends? Was I pretty enough for a certain crowd to speak to me and acknowledge me? Maybe it all boiled down to wondering if I was enough?

As I lead my group of 8th grade girls once a week, I see this painful struggle. The desire to be loved and enough, just as they are; to be liked, sought out, pretty, hip and cool.  This struggle is just as real for young men, as they struggle to find their place in the world. It is  real for all of us.

At our middle school group last week, we talked about beauty; specifically inner beauty. So much is hurled at us about our outward appearance; our size, shape, eye color, hair color, skin tone, you name it; someone, somewhere has decided what is and isn’t ok. W ewant to measure up to what culture has defined as beauty and I think it is terribly flawed and destructive.

Think for a moment about something that is uniquely you. Something that is a different, that might stand out. Is it your laugh, smile, eye or hair color? Do you have a unique sense of style or quirky sense of humor? Do you realize this unique part of you is a gift from God that sets you apart as special? You are His creation. Can you look at your uniqueness and begin to love it?

Read Psalm 139:13-18 and allow it into your mind and receive it in your heart.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me.”

God took such time and attention to detail to personally create you. Your shape, size, sound of your voice, color of your hair and skin were all planned out as He carefully invested time and poured His breath and love into the person that you are. He is crazy about His design! Ephesians 2:10 says “for we are all God’s masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

More important to God, I think, is our inner beauty. I define inner beauty as the characteristics of Jesus; such as, gentleness, kindness, inclusivity, confidence, compassion, mercy, humility, forgiving, full of love and kindness.  These traits have the power to draw people to you, because they see Jesus shining through the vessel of your physical body. We all have a God sized space in our souls that longs to be known, loved and accepted. Only God can fill that void in our lives. The more we look like Jesus on the inside, the more beautiful we become on the outside.

Take a few minutes to think about the traits of inner beauty that you have been gifted. Are you patient and laid back or are you a confident, type A go-getter? Are you kind and merciful? Are you a dreamer or a realist? Are you a leader with a dynamic personality? Are you humble and gentle? Do you have compassion for those less fortunate? Are you an encourager? All these qualities are gifts given to you by a loving God who knows all of your strengths and  weaknesses. He doesn’t look on you with eyes of disappointment, frustration or annoyance. He created all of you and intimately knows your thoughts, struggles, fears; your areas of strength and weakness. In your weakness He is strong and He uses those areas to draw you closer to Him.

If you struggle to see yourself as a lovely, precious, beautiful creation on the inside and outside, I challenge you (this is for me too!) to ask God to be your mirror. Ask Him to reflect back to you, all the beauty and loveliness He sees when He looks at you. When He sees you, His unique and valuable creation, He sees all the potential He placed in you. He sees the time and effort He personally put in to creating you for very specific purposes. There is only one you and you are definitely enough. You are a gift, from our Creator, to the world and I pray you see yourself that way.

What would happen when you look in the mirror this week, if you refused to allow negative thoughts and words any space in your mind? What if you refuted every negative word, thought, or description of yourself that you harbor in your soul, with positive words and thoughts; you could only call out encouragement and goodness, as you protected your heart from caustic and castigating words?  Imagine what God is seeing in you and receive in your heart and soul, that what He sees, He is so incredibly proud of and so in deeply in love with. You are enough.

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, His power gives you victory. The Lord will take delight in you, and in His love He will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you.”