The Perfect Gift

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

-James 1:17

 

            One of my absolute favorite things in the world is wrapping and giving presents. Especially for Christmas, where I nestle around the glowing tree that’s softly bathing the living room in gold, cream and evergreen. Piano carols and hymns slide from the stereo speakers, filling the room with soothing songs of the season. And around me, flames lick the wicks of winter scented candles.
 

            Each gift I carefully select the color and pattern of paper to wrap it in and try to cut as least crooked as possible (for me, that’s no easy task). I fold the ends over one another and crease the paper until they tuck crisply in a well wrapped package, taped down so no wayward pieces stick up. Then, I place the chosen label on the box and address it. And when it’s finished, I gently place it off to the side among the growing pile of presents I’ve already wrapped. In the lowlights of the Christmas tree it’s especially magical to see the colors shine off the paper.
 

            The gifts I wrap bring me great delight and send shivers under my skin. It’s the excitement of giving that launches my love. As the book or toy or clothing item are placed underneath the paper, I envision the recipient, see their heart all year round and watch their face unfold on Christmas morning when they open up what I’ve so lovingly tied together. For me, it’s about making the moment a little more special for them, to show my love and thankfulness at them being in my life. To watch eyes light up at the discovery that they’ve received a gift, and the anticipation of what lay under the wrapping, my heart smiles.
 

But more than the decoration, I love the giving. To place a gift in front of someone I love, watch them wonder at receiving something they weren’t expecting, and soak in their excitement once they’ve opened it, there is no greater satisfaction.
 

            For me, giving is my gift and I am glad to grace others with the outpouring that’s in my heart. And I ask for nothing in return, because their reaction is the only gift I need.
 

            However, there is one gift I am glad for. It isn’t large; kind of tiny, really. Soft, smooth, sweet to the scent. And the size, I can fit in my arms. Though the gift may be small, the cost is enormous. Priceless, actually. But it’s pretty perfect. And its value is eternal.
 

            It is the gift of salvation, God wrapped in flesh, covered in cloth and glory. Settled in the stomach of a virgin and born in a manger, next to donkeys, in the dark. Not the most glamorous arrival, no pretty bows or ribbon wound around His bed, but the glow of His ethereal face, sleeping in the arms of His mother, lit up the world. This tiny babe would grow to save our souls.
 

            Joy. Peace. Love. God is offering these gifts to you this year, through His Son Jesus Christ. If your heart longs for a warmth no layers of coats can cure, speak to Him in the stillness of your soul and unwrap the present that has been waiting for you since before time began. It’s a gift that has only gotten better with age. Try it on. See how it fits around your hope and fills you with that warmth you crave. And when you decide to keep it, look upon the Giver and offer Him up the most sincere thanks you’ve ever uttered. For He loves lavishing His gifts upon His children, and delights in seeing them accepted with eagerness and excitement.
 

            Get excited for the grace sitting underneath the tree of your heart, wrapped in wonder and ready to open.

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for this beautiful Christmas season. Thank You for the lights and the gifts and the warmth surrounding it. And most of all, thank You for the greatest gift of all- Jesus. Thank You for sending Him to walk this earth and save me from my sins. I want to accept this free and wondrous gift that You so eagerly offer. Let me take it and wrap it tenderly around my heart, and be filled with joy from receiving Your salvation. Amen.

Sent to Shine

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

-Matthew 2:9-10

 

            A luminous jewel, set high in the velvet black of night.

            Smiling, shining its inviting gaze upon three men seeking what lay at its end. Mesmerized, they watched the cosmos create a trail across the sky, beckoning their curiosity across a thousand lands, each step piquing their predestined enchantment.

            As the clear crystal days rose and fell, the wonder of the awaited child dug into the hearts of men, helpless to explain the earth’s rotation to the town of Bethlehem, where, at last, that pearl held its gleam all the brighter. It grew bold and brimmed with a diamond fulfillment, joyful at where it led the Magi.

Underneath its shimmering arms, a child glistened with the touch of God. And when the men encircled his crib, bowing their heads at the humbly bright baby, the star twinkled above, blinking upon a world where glory gave hope to a hurting human race. It pointed toward the true point that gave light to a darkened town, its warming hue inviting and intriguing to an empty earth to see the joy before it.

And as it appeared so suddenly among the night, so it slipped into the shadows, its treasured task released by the One who sent it to shine.

Prayer:

A star to guide the magi to a manger. Hanging in the sky, leading them to the Christ Child. How I look up at my own night and wish to see a sign that points to You! Thank You for the gift of guidance that lit the sky and brought the wisemen to their Savior. Thank You for sending Your Son, so we can follow Him on all our own heavenly trails. Amen.

Quiet Christmas

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

-Luke 2:6-7

I need a quiet Christmas.

A silent night, tucked away

into the softly falling folds of snow.

I need a tender beating heart,

one that knows the light of love,

that carols with angels

the joyous arrival of my King.

May my mind retrace the sacred steps

that led a man an wife

to their shelter in late hours.

Kneel me down at the foot of a trough,

where a small, sleeping boy

inhales his first breaths of earth.

Let me praise him,

let me sing a lullaby to soothe

his slumber,

let his heart be full of

the joyous tidings

his arrival brings.

May my soul surrender

to the sweetness of

this silent night.

 

Prayer:

Quiet my heart, Father. I am all over the place and need to slow down and savor this season. It is Yours, and in it You have given us the greatest gift- Your Son. Help me to remember that silent night that began to save us. Amen.

Build Me Up

“But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him."

-Job 5:8

            I don’t want to open doors to memories locked up, dusted with faded dreams and hopes that hurt.

I don’t want to unlatch the gate that keeps my pain at bay, don’t want to feel it charge with fury at the most tender parts of my heart.

            I don’t want to loosen anymore tears from my eyes; they’ve rained enough and flooded fields of joy that once grew abundant, yet now are barren and broken.

            I don’t want to fight to feel, push against the nothingness inside and battle with my being for the right to realize any emotion begging for my attention.

            I don’t want to try again and fail, to fall into a pattern of defeat that spits me out and leaves me doubting my abilities, my gifts, my worth.

            I don’t want to risk redemption only to be tempted and stray from the shelter of my solace. I have stumbled too often and sized up one width too small.

            I do not want to waste this life.

 

            So build me up, Great Carpenter of Your craft. Find the tears and holes in me and patch them up. Plant my foundation on solid ground, guard my heart and guide my mind. For You are my shield against the enemy’s schemes and by Your power I can persevere.

            Take my hand, my Help and Hope. Take care not to crush such fragile fingers that fold delicately into Yours. I am walking towards untended territory, and I need Your strength to see me through.

Prayer:

Father God, after all this time I am still so breakable. I am harnessed to a vulnerability I didn’t know still existed. I am on the verge of collapse again, and it is only by Your grace and glory that I am able to keep placing one foot in front of the other. Hold me up, Lord. Build me up to be better in You. In Your precious Son Jesus’ name, Amen.

Steady Footing

I was pushed back and about to fall,

But the Lord helped me.

-Psalm 118:13

My foot stumbled,

caught the rocks

between my toes

and bent me back,

spine arched,

apt to atrophy.

A steel hand caught

my tumbling body

and stood me straight

against the wind.

He moved me up

across the mountain,

held me harnessed

high above.

My legs latched deeply

into firm ground,

poised to rise,

no longer poised to fall.

Break Me Open

Answer me when I call to you,

O my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

-Psalm 4:1

My heart is not meant to be boxed in.

Yet here it lies, crumpled in to four sides of simple space and compacted into complacency. Iron clad, kept in a darkness so suffocating were it to see the sun my heart would reel and writhe against the goodness. No room to move, no gap to grow. Just tight, constricting beats that breathe in slow, small gasps. It is imprisoned by my own insecurity.

Lord, help me. Somehow. Please. Break me open. Pull back the shades I’ve kept shadowed in my heart. Let my weakness be exposed, help my heart to speak of Your significance.

            I am crumbling in the driest parts of my soul. I am stained by my stagnant hopes, distant dreams. I have been beaten by my brittle belief, content to be contained. Slowly, I am shriveling.

            But You are strong. Your glory grows and gathers through the ends of the earth. If You are for me, who can ever bring me down?

            Help my trembling, tiny self to see the immense strength You possess. Drag the doubt out of my head and send it spiraling into the abyss. For You long for my life to be lived in full. And I long for that, too, hidden in the soft spots of my hope. I cannot come back to my potential without Your power.

            Shine Your light into my eyes. Set Your smile upon my lips and let my words be spoken with sweetness that smells of You. You are able to do a mighty work in my meager self. Fill me, Lord. I am on empty and longing for life.

 

Prayer:

Lord, I see my failings and want them corrected. My heart wants to grow in all that You have groomed for me, yet my confidence is delicate. Lead me in strength and determination, heal my hope and let me long to gather Your promises in my arms and carry them to something spectacular. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Stolen

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

-Song of Songs 4:9

            I cannot breathe.

            Your beauty stops My lungs and takes away the air expelled from My lips. Those eyes- so delicate, so tender. A thousand gardens bloom inside your irises.

            That smile- innocent and luminescent. The richest pearls cannot compare to the glow that grows upon your grin.

            I hear your laugh and I am taken to a place of magic and wonder, the sweetest symphony striking up in the chambers of My heart.

            Your hands- you don’t think they look like much, but oh, Love, all that they can do! Tending to a hurting child, patching up a pair of pants and extending towards a lonely soul. Their movements mesmerize Me.

            It isn’t just the outside that gets Me- you radiate from within. The generosity with which you give to others gives cause for Me to shout how much I love you. Your sympathetic soul stretches to the lonely, and as they cry, you shed a few of yours to mingle mercifully alongside their sorrow.

            Your frustrations- I’ll take them, because I know you’re working on being better on controlling your temper and dealing with the roadblocks along your path.

            Your fearful heart that trembles touches My compassion and I long for you to let Me hold you until it subsides.

In your concentration when you wonder if anybody cares at all, I’ll sit beside you and trace the curves of your face, lingering on each line until you understand the depths of My devotion.

            I want you in the sunrise, when you’re waking in the unfolding moments where everything you dream will wake with you. I want you underneath a canopy of stars, curling into their shine and gleaming with a crown of cosmos wound through your hair.

            I have never seen another like you, the way you walk, the soft pronunciation of your speech, the way you see the world through those porcelain eyes. I am taken by your temperament and hooked upon your heart.

            My Jewel, you are swift to steal My heart and hold it ransom for My affection. But you needn’t keep such a close hold, for it was yours long before you snatched it from My grasp. It was always yours to have, to take, to relish. For I have cherished you before your eyes swept open to the beauty of your essence. I have stolen you away from the world and readied you for My own.

 

Prayer:

My Love, how You long for my attention and shower me with Your pursuit. You loved me long before I could even understand what that means. Let my affection be deserving of Your praise, and may I see all the reasons that I am captivated by You. Amen.