Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above

I know you may think I can't count very well... I mean, I skipped several days/ numbers on my countdown to my birthday. Well, quite honestly, some of the gifts were just too personal. Mainly they were gifts most wouldn't even consider gifts. I thought about not even referencing them, but I think too often we assume the Christian life is always full of good things. It is, but not what the world would consider good. I didn't want to come across as having this "perfect month" or perfect days even in this journey. God whispers to me in HisWord, sometimes shouts out to me in His sunsets. But some days, I feel he takes my face in His hands, holds me still, and says "hang on pumpkin... this one is going to bring tears and pain. But I AM. and I am here." Some of my days were like that.

Two things kept running through my head during those days this past week:

"that You, O God are strong" Psalm 62:11
"that You are loving" Psalm 62:12

I kept humming this song as well:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Day 11

Day 11





This evening Bill and I got a text from Jonathan, who is Chandler's small group leader, from Wyoming. Now, this is not our first rodeo. I know that the main reason...the only reason usually... we hear from a youth leader while on a mission trip is to notify the parents that their child is hurt or injured. Last year, I got the call from Stuart Row that Chandler had sliced his leg open and they were taking him to the ER. Several years ago, I got the call saying "Chandler is ok physically. But his friend Zach has been critically injured in front of him. Pray." You parents out there know the sinking feeling I am talking about in that millisecond between "hey...this is ----. Just wanted to update you on your son.." and "he's fine. don't worry."
So I look at the text with one eye open to read that a boy at vbs on the reservation they are working this week had passed out. Chandler scooped him up and ran him to the ministry center. My baby carrying someone else's limp baby across a field is all I can see. They hydrated the little boy (gotta love nurses). The picture is of Chandler and his new best friend in Wyoming!

"let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16 has been a verse I have prayed over Chandler since he was born. His name means "one who brings light".

Gift: God letting me see His faithfulness to Chandler. Giving me a verse to pray over him and then letting us watch Him work it out in Chandler's life... I feel like David. "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD? 2 Samuel 7:18-19

Day 6

Gift: A day at the pool with friends

"Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name." Psalm 97:11-12

Day 5

bowing to show respect....

Gift: a day at home with Marshall and Wyatt. I know these are about to be few and far between as I start nursing school soon. Took them to their first karate class... watching them respond so differently, yet both very respectfully, to their instructor was so fun! I prayed God would imprint it on my heart...the way Marshall would insert little jokes during breaks, Wyatt wrinkling his little forehead as he concentrated so hard... both giving me BIG hugs for signing them up afterwards.

Day 4

Day 4

Today my family returned to me safe and sound from a trip to see Bill's family in Arkansas. I think I finally let myself completely exhale once I had them all back...
Gift: knowing that God loves them more than I ever could.
"Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3
Here's some of their highlights:

Halfway to Eighty..Gifts 1 - 3

So it is my birthday month! And it's the big "Halfway to Eighty" that seems to be a rite of passage in our culture. I thought about what I wanted to give myself for my birthday. Now that sounds pretty selfish, and it is. Sometime as a late teenager/early adult, I started a tradition of treating myself to something each birthday.

This year I am giving myself the gift of being present every day this month. I am purposefully looking for how God shows Himself to me each day this month. It is our journey that matters, and the easiest thing in the world to do is to just "get by" each day without seeing how He loves us. He shows me His love in different ways than He might show you. But I have asked Him to show me Himself and make me listen every day this month. He has always spoken to me through His Word, and the past few days have been no different...



Day One

Gift: Dinner with my parents followed by a gorgeous sunset on my way home. I love sunsets! I am that person that will pull over and park just to see the show. Tonight's was full of my favorite colors of purples and pinks...
"The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they display knowledge." Psalm 19. Oh yes. Tonight the skies were a display of His knowledge. He knows me. How cool is that?


Day Two


Gift: A homemade blackberry cobbler shared with a good friend after a particularly rough day at work. Even sweeter was the time we had to share how God has been working in and around our lives the past few weeks.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him" Psalm 34




Day Three

Gift: Laughter. Saw a movie with my friend who has shared a lot of my sorrow and heart aches the past few years, as well as the laughter. So glad God made laughter!
"A cheerful heart is good medicine!" Proverbs 17:22



Looking forward to "opening" my gifts the next few weeks with you... praying it encourages you to look for the gifts given to you each day as well!