Waiting for a Gift

I had already put the thoughts in this post together when I read a post by Jill about sussies and how they can be ‘less’ than a gift in that they are often inappropriate or unneeded by the recipient. Point made!

While I love to give and am always touched by the thoughtfulness of others, I think we have all at some point received gifts that we did not know what to do with and have felt the tension of obligatory giving and receiving.

I was thinking of how our working society is based on ‘need’. If no one had a need the job market would be effectively shut down over night !!

A doctor NEEDS someone to be sick !
A teacher NEEDS someone who lacks knowledge!
A chef NEEDS someone who is hungry !!
A repair man NEEDS someone who has something broken!!
A roofer NEEDS someone whose roof leaks!!
A clerk NEEDS someone to come shopping!

Just as it is ‘need’ that provides the opportunity to serve in the work place in order for us to earn our living …. So also a gift .. to be a true gift... must find a need to fill.

God has given each of us ‘gifts’ -- they are listed in Roms.12:6 and I Cor. 12 – We all have deposited within us the God-given gifts of natural talents and abilities as well as the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever considered the relationship of your particular gift to the NEED around you ?

If you are someone with the gift of encouragement, you NEED someone who is downcast or discouraged.
If you are someone with the gift of mercy , you NEED someone who is feeling self-condemned or burdened with guilt.
If you are someone God has called to be a giver, you NEED someone who is lacking, who has a need for provision of some kind.
If you are a server at heart, you NEED someone who needs help.


You have heard the expression “the haves and the have-nots”. It is usually used to describe two sectors of society.
But I would like to apply it to two other groups of people - the ones holding gifts and the ones who have need of the gifts.

Perhaps that is why they are called ‘gifts’. They were never meant to be hidden or worse - to be consumed on ourselves .. They were meant to be given away. A true gift demands no recompense – it is freely given.

We all have gifts to give .. and God’s gifts are always a blessing – both in the giving and in the receiving!

Do you have a closet full of gifts God has given you to give away? Maybe you felt that no one wanted them . I believe you are wrong.. the persons God intended you to give them to are waiting ..

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins… Be hospitable to one another without grumbling…As each one has received a gift , minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God ………and let him do it with the ability which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen!!!!” (I Peter 4:8,9,10b)

God's Voice

Vic and I and our girls just spent a long week-end at Whistler.
For those of you who have been there in winter, I need say no more . For the rest of you let me just say that it is spending time drinking in God's majestic beauty !!
The above photo was taken from the entrance of our townhouse which overlooked the golf course and the mountains beyond.

The above photo was taken from our townhouse window.

Vic took this picture of me standing beside the benches under this roof!
Here I am standing on the snow covered sidewalk (or is it a tunnel!) on our way back to our townhouse after a walk. The sun was just starting to set.

We had an wonderful weekend enjoying each other and also the beauty around us.

I was struck anew by the power of God's Voice.

His Voice is impossible to ignore in the grandeur of His creation but I was also stirred to the acknowledgement that His voice truly is around us all the time.

The question is how sensitive are we to hear Him.

I think God purposely created children with a propensity to turn a literal deaf ear to the voice of their parents, so that we can 'feel' what God feels like when we ignore His Voice 99% of the time.

We did have one scare on our week end that illustrates how easily we can miss God's voice.

I had stayed up late the night before and I was looking forward to a restful sleep on Saturday night.
I had nicely fallen asleep just after 12:30 am when I was awakened by my husband’s “the sky is falling” tone of voice saying that he thought he had lost his wallet.

My first thought was to say, “Where did you say you hid your wallet when you went out for a walk yesterday without it?” But then I immediately realized that that was the day before and we had been shopping in the village since and had been out for dinner that evening.

So I got up and we did a search including all the places where of course it could not be but you look anyway because you are desperate.
It seemed to be no where. He last remembered having it at the restaurant.
I tried calling the restaurant but of course it was already closed.
I found a Whistler lost and found number but it wasn’t open until eight in the morning.
I started calling credit cards -- he thought he only had his debit and one credit card with him and thankfully the one credit card he had turned out to be one I can paid off and cancelled so no problem there.
The cash we could live without – although I did wish I had let him buy me that necklace that I had admired earlier that evening !!
It worst thing was thinking of the hassle involved in replacing personal information stuff… birth certificates, licence, etc.

In the end – because he was too upset to sleep anyway - Vic took his large flashlight and decided to walk back down to the Village and hope against hope that it would still be lying where it must have fallen out of his jeans’ pocket.

He left and I sat down to pray …. Almost immediately I felt an incredible peace that all would be well. So I asked that the Lord would give Vic the same peace. I wasn’t sure whether the peace meant that he would find the wallet or that someone would turn it in but I trusted that in the end it would all work out OK.

After some time I called Vic on his cell. Hearing loud voices in the background when he answered I asked “Where in the world are you ?” He answered that he was in the Village but the streets were full of revellers in various stages of drunkenness. He had not found his wallet so he was coming home.
When he got home I told him I had had a real peace from God while I was praying and had asked for him to feel it too. He replied , “Oh, I did, I know it will alright whatever happens!!”

A few minutes later he walked into our bedroom and came back out carrying his wallet, with a "Thank you , Lord!"

Where had it been? In the side pocket of his travel bag - the same place he had hid it the day before.
When we came home from the restaurant he had absent-mindedly taken his wallet out of his pocket and dropped it into his bag but then later panicked when he didn’t find it in his pocket when he was undressing for bed !!
So had I asked the question that popped into my mind when he first thought he had lost it, I would not even have had to leave the comfort of my cozy bed!!

But still God spoke again by filling my mind with peace that all would be well.

I cannot imagine living without the assurance that I have a Great God who not only magnifies Himself in His creation and His voice thunders through it... but that He also comes as my Father and whispers in my heart !!!

“Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him?” (Job 40:9)

“And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice.” (I Kings 19:12)

Retirement ? What's that?

I love hearing about inspiring people!!
This morning there was a news clip about a man named Anthony Mancinelli who immediately had my respect!!
He is a man who has applied his barbering trade for 83 years.
No, that is not a typo; he is now almost 97 years old and has been clipping hair for 83 years. The news report said that he had cut President Coolidge’s hair – that is going back 14 Presidents !

What I admired about this man is that is has no thought of retiring! He doesn’t want “to sit in front of the TV and get old”.
He is doing what he loves and is still very professional in his trade and often has men lining up to have the privilege of having their hair cut by him. He said he loves the hands on aspect of his trade and personal conversation with the people who come in.
He is the kind of man that makes ‘old’ a myth.

Most of us, for one reason or another dream of and plan for our retirement!
But I think that whatever stage of life we are in, there is always something we can do that is a rewarding and profitable focus to make life meaningful.

And one thing I especially love is that in the kingdom of the King of Kings there is no such thing as retirement.
Our place of service may change, our acts of service may change but until the day we take that last step over the line between this earthly life and our eternal rest, we have opportunity to be gainfully employed doing the work of the kingdom.

Anthony said the secret of the longevity of his working life was that “You have to enjoy it!” And I think that is also the secret of our working in the Lord’s vineyard!!
It is a joy to serve our King !!
And you are never too old or too weak or over or under qualified to be an active member of the Lord’s workforce!!
Always, always there is a job for you to do. Tailor fit for you , your ‘job’ is and always will be one that is enjoyable and satisfying and a necessary part of fulfilling God’s good purposes.

Some years ago we had an interim pastor that was amazing. He was 'Arthur' to everyone and loved by the youngest member of our congregation as well as the very oldest.
He was 86 years young and full of energy. We would gladly have kept him as our pastor but he lived some distance away and came only to fill our pulpit for a few months. He is now well over 90 and last I heard he was chaplain for a rest home.
He was still going strong with no thought of retiring.

I love to hear that people can be useful and busy about the Lord’s business as long as they have breath. That is what I want to do … no matter where or what that business is.
I don’t want to turn into a spiritual couch potato taking an early retirement that was never offered me.

Will we follow in the footsteps of our Lord who said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day , the night is coming when no man can work.” ? (John 9:4)

I remember as a child singing the hymn below and always fascinated by the words.
Do you remember it ?

(written by Anna Coghill in 1864 when she was just 18 years old )

Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work ’mid springing flowers;
Work when the day grows brighter,
Work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man’s work is done.

Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labor,
Rest comes sure and soon.
Give every flying minute,
Something to keep in store;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man works no more.

Airport 'Coincidence'?

(Russell, Carolanne, Nathan)

We were with some people recently and an older lady was saying that she had determined to read through the bible this year. She had just finished Genesis and commented on the fact that she had been impressed with how ‘normal’ it was for God to speak to people.
She asked, “Where IS that God today?”

I KNOW He is "the same, yesterday, today and for ever!!!" (Heb. 13:8)

I like what someone once said, “If you feel God is far away, guess who moved!”

I think that many people don’t ‘hear’ or ‘see’ God in their daily lives anymore because they are not looking for Him, or just simply too busy to notice Him. I believe that God speaks into the daily lives of ALL of His children and we just need to open our eyes and see Him.

Last week we went to the airport to spend a couple of hours with Carolanne and her family.
Carolanne is a friend I met on the internet but now that we have met in person, I guess that can be upgraded to ‘real life friend’. (Smile)

We drove the couple of hours to the airport, parked in the arcade and walked the short distance into the terminal.
It was only then that I realized that we had a problem.
It seemed so easy when Carolanne was in Australia and I eighteen hours away to agree to meet them at the Vancouver airport during their 5 hour lay over on their way home. But now looking around I realized that it was not going to be easy to find them since neither of us had had the fore thought to specify a meeting spot.
No problem!!
I had the flight number. I would just go ask where they would be and go from there.

Well, the airport computers had no such flight number in their system. I was sure I had written it down right but I asked at two different information centers and they showed nothing.
So what now?
The lady at the second information center was very friendly and said we should go look for them and if we didn’t find them , come back and they could page them.
We wandered up and around on the two floors and quickly realized we were not going to find them among the throngs of people moving about.

We sent up some quick prayers for God to direct us to each other.
I said, “Let’s just go have them paged.”
Vic agreed , “Ok. We can do it right here!”
For some reason I insisted on going back to the lady we had spoken to at the other info booth. Vic thought I was being silly but humoured me and we went back.
The lady I had liked was just leaving on her break but an oriental young man paged them for us. I was a little concerned that his strong accent made their names very unclear over the PA system but he did repeat it a few times so I trusted the Lord would somehow make sure Carolanne or her husband or son would hear it.

I stood and waited maybe 10 minutes and then I saw Carolanne’s face appear at the top of the escalator right near the booth. They had not heard the page but had just come through customs and were themselves wondering how they would find us since we had not spoken to each other recently nor arranged a meeting place.

If I had not insisted on going back to the ‘nice lady’ info booth… we may not have found each other --- or at least not nearly as quickly!!

And so we enjoyed a pleasant couple of hours getting to know Carolanne, Russell and Nathan.

I know that God directed our steps and that He was there!! He does care about the little details of our daily lives and I have found that the more I look for Him, the more I ask for His help… the more I see the evidence of His presence.

I know this is true for every one of His children!!!! Have you experienced His guidance in some way recently? Sharing your experience in the comment section would bless all of us !!

“My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me!!”
(John 10:27)