Last month I was surprised to receive this email from a regular reader: “I wanted to let you know I mailed you a little package – I hope you like it! You have been exceptionally kind and inspirational to me and have truly helped me. For all of that, I am filled with gratitude. Thank you, and God bless you.”
Wow! We had connected through my website, had emailed back and forth, and prayed for one another as we faced our respective challenges in life. But we’d never met in person. And now she was sending me a new year’s gift all the way from her home in Illinois to me in British Columbia? At a time when mailing costs are so high that most publishers in the United States no longer send hard copy books for me to review and opt instead for digital versions? I marveled at her kindness and generosity as gifts from God!
When her package arrived, I noticed it was marked “fragile,” and inside was another smaller box neatly padded all around with plastic bags, the kind with looped handles no longer supplied by grocery stores in our province. Eleven bags – and yes, I counted then! I had been wondering where I might find bags with loops that would fit my under-the-kitchen-sink garbage bag stand. I’ve used that stand for years, but those bags have become a thing of the past in our area – yet suddenly I now had a little stash of them! I’m sure my long-distance friend had no idea, but I just had to laugh. For me those bags were part of the surprise and part of the gift.
When I opened the inner box, I found a beautiful little glass lamp, frosted on the outside, with tiny electric light bulbs on the inside. This was the gift my friend had intended. Her card said, “A little light in memory of your husband.” What a thoughtful and beautiful gift! On these dark winter nights, I like to plug it in and take comfort in its glow. I remember my husband whose memory is with me always. I remember the care of my friend and the care of many other people in my life. I remember God’s gifts of kindness and generosity bestowed each day.
Scripture tells us that “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). God is constant. The same God who created heaven and earth is the same God who creates each new day, the same God who gives us life and breath moment by moment. And many of God’s good gifts are constant. As the psalmist testifies, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). Surely God’s goodness and love will follow us all the days of our lives. That doesn’t change.
Yet God’s gifts are also many and varied, particular and personal, specific to our situation. Like the little memorial light sent to me by mail. That kind of gift might not make sense to someone else, but it’s a good gift for me, thoughtfully chosen and carefully packed by my friend. And I like to think of it too as a perfect gift sent to me from God above, who uses it to encourage and comfort me. So too with the eleven just-the-right-size-and-shape bags that my friend had carefully tucked around her gift to protect it in transit. It quite likely never occurred to her that those bags would become a gift to me too. But they surprised and delighted me, and I will put them to good use, another gift from God above.
I’m grateful for so many gifts – God’s creative and life-giving power, God’s constant goodness and love, the gifts of family and friendship, the gifts of church and Christian community, the gifts that are given with love and intention, and the surprising and unintended gifts along the way.
What gifts have you given? May God use them to encourage and bring joy to those who have received them. May God continue to grow you in kindness and generosity. What gifts have you received? May God continue to bless you richly. May God continue to grow you in gratitude and delight for every good gift.
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:3-4).
April Yamasaki is a pastor, editor, and author who writes regularly at AprilYamasaki.com and WhenYouWorkfortheChurch.com. Visit her websites to subscribe for more articles of encouragement and inspiration.
April Yamasaki is a pastor, editor, and author of Sacred Pauses, Four Gifts, and other books on living every day with faith and hope. She currently serves as resident author with Valley CrossWay Church, editor of the devotional magazine Rejoice!, continues to write online and in print, and often speaks in churches and other settings.
What a great story! Such a special and thoughtful gift!