I remember back a couple years.. to my teens…
(okay so I’m using couple of years loosely)
I was at a friend’s house for a party.
It was close to Christmas and her mother had dozens of gifts under their tree.

I was mesmerized by the intricate way her mom had carefully wrapped each one.
I had never seen anything like it.
She had beautiful bows, with designer paper and homemade cards on each package.
It obviously made an impression on me!

I remember thinking how much fun it would be to receive one of those gifts!
The contents may not have been all that special but the exterior  looked perfect!

Have you ever received a gift that was so beautifully wrapped you didn’t want to open it because it would ruin the wrapping paper?
Or maybe you just had to turn the gift over looking at it for awhile before you messed it up.

I have received gifts like that! Gifts that were so beautiful I could tell that I had been given something special. A gift that made my heart sing.

Some of these gifts came in forms of paper and cardboard.
But the best gifts I have been given have come to me as people.

Holding my husband’s hand is a gift.
Knowing that he is committed to staying with me (cause… I’ll follow him if he leaves)
Those little people that came from my body…Wow! What a magnificent gift!
And my family and friends have given me the priceless gift of not having to walk through life without a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh with.

These are the gifts that I cherish and recognize as God’s blessing on me.
I feel he is smiling when I open these packages.But lately I have been thinking about this…

I always tell my kids that God is the giver of all gifts.  And all his gifts are good.

But sometimes it’s hard to see that it’s truly a gift because the package doesn’t look all that pretty.
I mean seriously,
Who wants to get a diamond in a brown paper bag?
And at times  you may even have to scrape the mud off and polish the stone in order to see the shine.

I am starting to recognize that although I may not have picked this particular package it is still God’s gift to us.
For some reason he wants to give it to us.The question then becomes am I willing to receive all Gods gifts as good gifts?
Lately, as I have slowing been unwrapping some of his packages,
I have realized what a gem he has given me.

I see it in little ways.

Like when I see myself relating to someone who I never understood before.
Or when I feel God closer and I see myself more clearly.
When I recognize that something new he has brought me, although painful, is truly what I needed.

I’m starting to get it.

And Oh My.

It’s a gift!

I am beginning to see that some of God’s finer gifts can come in Brown paper Bags.

by rosyrose@Raisinpraise.blogspot.com

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