Sane, Simple, Sacred: Gifts AND Presence

Gifts AND Presence

She'd come earlier this month bringing with her my birthday gift--a set of beautiful coasters.

Thoughtful. Knowing my birthday falls on Christmas Day,

she wanted me to have separate gifts.

Then back today with my "Christmas gifts"...

the ornament (above) and homemade goodies filling the box below.

Like a very young child, I am totally enchanted with its wrapping!

As yummy as the contents of the box are,

it was her PRESENCE that I needed most today.

And the time and labor of love that went into making the pickles, sweet breads and caramels
warmed my heart.

My gift-and-presence-friend and her kindness
made me think of a Vacation Bible School song from several years ago.

Have you ever heard it?

GIFTS AND PRESENCE

Our gifts seem small
But we place them all
We place them all at Your feet
They are simple things
But with all our hearts
With all our hearts we will sing
We will sing

CHORUS

We bring our gifts

You bring Your presence

Exchanging our little

For all that You are

We bring our gifts

You bring Your presence

And what is most precious

Jesus, You fill our hearts

To serve O King
Is the praise we bring
The praise we bring is to serve
Ever to obey
Is the way we say
The way we say we are Yours
We are Yours

(Annette Oden | Dave Noel)

8 comments:

AnonymousDecember 18, 2014 at 4:36 PM
You are a Christmas baby? How blessed you are! Enjoy your gifts dear friend :0) mari
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Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage BlogDecember 18, 2014 at 5:04 PM
My husband is a Christmas Eve baby, and I have always made a separate birthday for him!

So happy that your friend is thoughtful and kind and knows how needed this kindness is!

Deanna
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BookieDecember 18, 2014 at 6:30 PM
What a thoughtful friend you have. A Christmas birthday must be hard as a child, but how speical it can be for an adult! To share Jesus's birthday! I remember my first pregnancy at Christmas time...how close I felt to the Blessed Mother...just cradled my baby inwardly as she must have. The season has been short for me this year but its fleeting days make each more precious!
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DeeDecember 19, 2014 at 3:23 PM
God gave us a blessing with friendships...I hope you are feeling better.
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

Gifts AND Presence

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Writing a Song a Week #3