Good Gifts
Last Tuesday Ray and I took an especially foggy walk in the early morning. The morning had begun pleasantly with an email from my friend Sara, whom I have known since I was in college, and texts from my friend Ella, whom I’ve known for about a decade, and from my cousin Roger. I remember the day that Roger was born. His mother, my Aunt Lavon, and his sister Debby were living with us while Uncle Billy was in the Air Force, so I have known him the longest of all.
Sara wrote about her successful flight to see her sister and told us again that she is praying for Ray. Ella checked in to learn the latest about his health journey. Roger reported about how Aunt Lavon is doing in rehab.
When Ray and I walked back up the driveway, I noticed that this new pink plant was bursting with blooms.
When I stepped into the garden to take a picture of it, I saw that it was time to pick some more of our surprise tomatoes.
When Vickie, the owner of our local garden center, added many new plants to our garden this year (I can’t do it myself anymore because of allergies), a tomato seed had gotten into one of the pots. When it began to grow, I showed it to our friends Garth and Terry. Terry is a master gardener—not as in an official one, but one who just is one. The plants inside and outside of their house are amazing.
On July 25, while we were in Nashville for Ray’s heart surgery, Garth and Terry came to our house clandestinely. Terry tidied the tomato plant and tied it to this old garden post, making it a beautiful addition to our garden and giving us the opportunity to enjoy fresh tomatoes.
That night Garth and Terry were in Nashville bringing us supper. That’s the kind of people they are.
Many people touch our lives—family members like my husband, Ray, and my cousin Roger; friends like Sara, Ella, Garth, and Terry; and gardeners like Vickie who become new friends. Each is a gift from our loving Father, who gives to us abundantly—one gift after another, over and over again all day long, all year long, all life long. Sometimes it is the gift of a beautiful foggy morning, sometimes a burst of blooms, sometimes a handful of surprise tomatoes, sometimes a special time with or message from a friend or family member.
You are a gift to your children. Each day you have the opportunity to remind them of the large and small gifts that God gives to them every day.
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.Â
In the exercise of His will
He brought us forth by the word of truth,
so that we would be a kind of first fruitsÂ
among His creatures.
James 1:17
Such sweet reminders. Thank you for the encouragement.