Every Good Gift
On a recent walk, a small moving shadow caught my attention. Suddenly a leaf fell from the sky and landed on the shadow. It was a simple event, but it was like nothing I had seen before. I don’t know why I even noticed the small moving shadow. I didn’t know what I was watching exactly until the leaf suddenly came into view. Watching leaves fall is one of my many favorite things, so the moment is a sweet memory. Since that day several weeks ago, I have thought about telling you about it.
We never know what gifts God has in store. He is always sending “leaves out of the sky” for us. My cousin, Kenneth Wayne, sent me a wise saying recently. Here is a paraphrase:
This isn’t the year to get everything we want but a year to be thankful for what we have.
I’m thinking how important it is for children to learn that lesson but also about how hard it seems to be to teach it.
Ray and I watch a late-50s/early-60s game show regularly on YouTube. We enjoy it very much. I’m impressed with how polite the host and the panel are. They say “thank you” again and again and at moments that are sometimes surprising. I commented to Ray recently about how polite they are. Hmmm… That makes me think how nice it would be if that is how people thought about me. It would be nice if encounters with me left them thinking, “How polite she is.”
We can start our road to a polite and thankful demeanor by saying “Thank You” to the One who sends us little gifts and big gifts. Then, we can add saying “Thank you” to the little people at home who give us little gifts, such as a smile, and big gifts, such as growing in their character.
Every good thing given
and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
James 1:17