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Opa's Birthday Surprise
by Dot Hannah They were the joy of his young life, Thomas the train and his cohorts, James, Percy, Salty, Gordon, Henry, Ben, Bill, Clarabel, Annie, Edward, Emily, Spencer, Mavis, Toby and so on. He had experienced many adventures with them, but Opa, his grandfather, was special to him also, and it was his birthday. He wanted to give him a gift, but what does a four year old have to give? All he had was his most prized possessions, his trains. Sam carefully packed a few of his trains into his backpack and carried them with him to Opa's house. When they arrived Mom noticed him getting the backpack out of the van and said, "Sam, leave your backpack in the van." "But Mom," Sam replied, "I have Opa's special birthday surprise in here." Mom had no idea what he was talking about. When they went inside Opa's house, Sam was so excited to tell him that he had a special birthday surprise for him. When Opa saw the trains he asked if he could keep them a few days, never dreaming that Sam would actually want to part with them. "You can keep them forever," exclaimed Sam spontaneously. This story reminds me of a similar one. Our heavenly Father gave us His most prized possession, His Son, with as much joy and love as Sam had given his. It was a sacrifice for Sam, but it was an extraordinary sacrifice for God the Father. God does not withhold anything from us which would be to our advantage to receive. Not what I have but what I don't have is the first point of contact between me and God. I did not, do not have the ability to earn eternal life in heaven with my Father, therefore, He gave the greatest gift He has, Jesus. In return, I am called to give a gift to my Father each day, the whole of my life. The amazing thing is that He gave me another gift, the Holy Spirit, so that I would have the power to do so. I am not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold me. Every day I live is another priceless gift from God. The gifts are so numerous I cannot number them all. It has been said, "We walk without fear, full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in. This is the real gift: you have been given the breath of life, designed with a unique, one of a kind soul that exists forever. The way you choose to live it doesn't change the fact that you've been given the gift of being now and forever. Priceless in value, you are handcrafted by God, who has a personal design and plan for each of us. " Now friend, that is real giving! I am a 61 year old grandmother who delights in writing about my grandchildren and my Savior, Jesus Christ in order to challenge and encourage others. Contact email is barrettdothannah@ hotmail.com Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |