I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!
Written by Jerry Lewis, November 22, 2024
As you sip on your coffee this morning, let me ask if you remember a time when your parents or grandparents shared the following with you when you were young , “I have a gift for you”? Do you remember the feelings, the expectations, the joy?
Well…let me share with you a kind of gift, one caused by an extreme reaction from a young, selfish, ungrateful, coastal boy ,who just received a t-shirt, and not a toy, from Berts Surf shop on Atlantic beach. Have you ever been there?
My mom, who grew up with Bert, had managed, with grandma’s help, to go by there and get me a couple of t-shirts. We were coming home to Morehead City to visit and my mom was excited and just wanted to have those t-shirts ready as an expression of her love. She had shared with me that she, “Had a gift waiting for me when I arrived,” AND I was so EXCITED!
When we finally got to 1203 Shepard Street and home to my grandparents and great grandparents for the summer, I did not even allow my dad to put the vehicle in park! As he rolled up the alley, I just opened the door and bolted, running up the stairs, with my dad yelling at me all the way! I was excited to be home for the summer and to be with my grandparents, but as a young boy, I was ALSO EXCITED to see what that gift my mom, through grandma, had to give me.
Of course, grandma heard us coming down the alley, dad yelling, and me jumping out of car and running as fast as I could! So she was at the door, with perfect timing. I bolted inside, she stopped to get a hug, and I just hollered, “Where is my gift? “
She smiled, as any mom or grandma would, and then went to the bedroom to get the two gifts, yes! Except….when she brought them to me and I realized the GIFTs….instantly, they did not measure up to what I had in mind. I took off running out of the house and back down the stairs frustrated, with dad now yelling at me again for a different reason!
I guess I was grateful, at this time in my life, that one thing I could do was run fast, because if not, I would have had a very awful first day back in Morehead City! Thankfully, when I did return home, I first went to grandma and granddads, who lived in the house, who loved me so much, regardless what had occurred and would PROTECT ME!
I write this now and realize how ungrateful I was as a young boy. In fact, right now, I would give ANYTHING if I could see my mom again on this side of Heaven, with or without any Bert T-Shirt gifts!
QUESTIONS: Why are we as humans prone to be ungrateful, which the Word of God shares over and over, that we naturally are? Why don’t we see the generosity or love in others more often? With a gift, why do we struggle at times to see it for what it is…..instead of our own preconceived idea of what it should be?
YES, may we know that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father and He has given us: the gift of His Son, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of salvation, the gift of eternal life, gifts in order to serve Him, and gifts in order to serve others. These are enough to cause us to praise and thank Him forever and ever! These are indeed the MOST IMPORTANT AND KEY GIFTS ANY OF US CAN EVER RECEIVE!
I have ALSO now learned that with the battle of the brain cancer, that in God’s economy, even trials and challenges can be counted as gifts.
Why? Because through them, not only do we mature and grow in our faith, but also I have been given the gift of knowing the Lord more deeply, more closer, more daily, and am experiencing HIS presence and HIS voice. This is a precious gift indeed and is needed now more often than in any other time in my life.
BUT as I close, I have also experienced gifts from folks like you that have brought tears of joy! As one who has mostly been on the giving side of this discussion, it was a struggle at first to say, yes, to your gifts of love. There were and still are so many being shared with us and it is overwhelming wonderful!
Whether by a group of men in my neighborhood, now taking care of my yard; or plentiful gift cards, coming from our church friends through the mail, or hotel rooms being paid for, or a wheel chair ramp being built, or wonderful food cards being shared, or food being delivered, or a new dehumidifier being gifted, or the simple gifts of texts and beautiful encouraging cards, they have all been such incredible gifts.
I am learning, yes, still learning, that when one shares, “I have a gift for you,” just receive that which He is doing in sharing HIS love with us through you.
Yes, Lord Jesus, some gifts seem messy and unwanted, just like a simple, “ surf t-shirt” in the hands of a spoiled costal boy. It was at first rejected, tossed turbulently high in the waves of the ocean, that grew into a TSUNAMI but has now turned into a MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF FAITH, HEALING, AND LOVE!
“A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.”
THANK YOU JESUS!
