Gifts I've Received

My friend Denise blogged recently about the spirit of gift giving. It got me thinking... not so much about the creative gift giving I’ve done, but about the many special gifts I’ve received.

Here are a few, and only a few, highlights from a few Someones whose gifts have meant so much.

Someone once gave me - a bottle of wine left on my porch after our firstborn’s first trip to the ER; Ouch!... stitches.... he bears the scar to this day

Someone once gave me - the gift of knitting because she taught me how

Someone once gave me - the LLBean travel bag I had been eyeing in a catalog for 3 years which I couldn’t see buying for myself when ziploc baggies will do. I love that travel bag... in my favorite color no less!

Someone once gave me - a precious picture framed to remind us of sympatico

Someone once gave me - the gift of forgiveness... You can’t be a friend with someone for 30 years without that!

Someone once gave me - the gift of wisdom and gentle guidance and words of truth spoken in love, consistency, loyalty, all in a single afternoon

Someone once gave me - my Jeremiah 29:11-13 bracelet right when I needed to let go of my own plans and accept God’s plans

Someone once gave me - my Sisters By Heart poem

Someone once gave me - amazing black pants I have worn for so many years that still fit perfectly and go with everything and have lasted forever

Someone once gave me - a little heart box complete with symbolic little items like 10 candles for our first 10 years of marriage, 2 monopoly houses for each real house we had made Home, 2 angels for our 2 children, salt for the tears and sugar for the sweet times


Someone once gave me - a little box with a stone, hand decorated, representing the spiritual marker of our friendship

Someone once gave me - my mushroom picture that she drew with her very own hands

Someone once gave me - the gift of allowing me to barge in on her and help her paint her kitchen my favorite color

Someone once gave me - the gift of loving my children like her own

Someone once gave me - the gift of letting me love his children like my own

Someone once gave me - the gift of time talking on the phone for a whole hour which is a big commitment when you are only 9!

Someone once gave me - the gift of encouragement and fitness because she got me to run my first 5K

Someone once gave me - a party complete with balloons and laughter and cake and ice cream and singing on a birthday day when there was supposed to be nothing but laundry, macaroni and dishes

Someone once gave me - the gift of a silver locket

And those are just a few of the best gifts I’ve ever received. What comes to mind for you?

Santa Died

The child was nestled all snug in her bed
When Mommy came in for the prayers to be said.
Mommy was hoping to be done in a snap
And go settle her brain for a long winter’s nap.

Jillian: Are you Mrs. Claus?

Mommy: Yes

Jillian: So is Daddy Santa?

Mommy: What do you think?

Jillian: Well, if you’re Mrs. Claus then Daddy must be Santa.

Mommy: Why do you think Mommy and Daddy pretended to be Santa?

Jillian: Because you like giving us presents and you like surprising us.

Mommy: That’s right. It’s fun to give presents in secret and not to get any Thank Yous. Sometimes it reminds me of Jesus who gives us lots of good things and we don’t say Thank You. Sometimes we don’t see that it is Him who is taking care of us. Jesus loves us though. That’s why he came to earth. He loves us even if we don’t say Thank You.

Jillian: Why are you crying Mommy?

Mommy: Because I don’t want any Thank Yous. I just want to love you the way Jesus loves me.

Jillian: How can I not say Thank You when I know it’s you?

Mommy: I know it’s hard. Try not to thank me on Christmas. Try to remember that some gifts are free and Thank Jesus for His gift instead. Jesus’ gift is the best one of all.

Jillian: Jesus really loves me.

Mommy: Yes, he does.

Mommy sprang to embrace her while the tears started pouring
And away she flew to go finish her mourning.
Santa had died, the fib was now out of sight,
"It’s all about Jesus now, and One Holy Night!"

Ebenezer

Use the word, “Ebenezer” this time of year, and you are bound to think of Dickens’ famous Ebenezer Scrooge, Esquire. A greedy, grumpy, and supremely selfish man eventually transformed and reborn.

Aren’t you glad at the end of that tale? Isn’t it a relief to see what happens to that crusty old man? The Ebenezer that emerges at the end of the play inspires Hope in us because we want to believe that given eyes to see, the past, the present and the future we can be made new. We so desperately need that kind of Hope. Deep down we fear what we might be missing, don’t we? We identify with Dickens’ portrayal because Ebenezer reminds us who we are and who we might become. But there is another Ebenezer I want to talk about.

In the Bible, an Ebenezer was a memorial. It was like a totem pole of thankfulness. An altar erected to God to remind the people of all He had done. It was meant to give them Hope. Why does God think the people need an Ebenezer? It is because we forget.

We forget how blessed we are.
We forget what God has done.
We forget all the times we have been rescued.
We forget the joy we have known.
We forget to be thankful.

God knew we are Forgetters. We are Ebenezers like Scrooge who get greedy and grumpy and need again and again to be transformed into Rememberers. Rememberers who know how fortunate we are. Rememberers who care about the poor and needy. Rememberers who look for a way to give of the little or much we have with joy.

So in response to our Scroogish nature, Joe and I bought some rocks. We also bought a great big cedar bowl. Into the bowl we place stones on which are written memories of the miracles and blessings authored by Jehoveh Jirah - the God who provides. We do this lest we forget all that the Lord has done for our family. We do this to become Rememberers. It is our Ebenezer Bowl, to remind us who God is, who we are and what He has done for us in the past and in the present. Each blank stone is a reminder that God has a plan for the future. Someday, all the stones will tell a story.

In Hebrew, Ebenezer means Stone of Help and it is with the help of these stones that I hope to actually BE an Ebenezer Scrooge, Esq..... transformed, reborn and made new... a portrait of Hope... a reflection of God.

1 Samuel 7:12.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up.... He named it Ebenezer, saying, “The LORD helped us."



PS - Credit for the Ebenezer Bowl goes to my friend Jill who got her idea from her friend. And maybe Jill’s friend got the idea from someone else. In any case, it all started in the Old Testament. It was God’s idea all along... that we not forget. That we REMEMBER.



What do YOU do in YOUR family to remember?