LEARNING HOW TO ACCEPT UNEXPECTED GIFTS

God, help me find your unexpected gifts for me today.  I began this #MindfulMonday with this simple prayer.

It reminds me of a something I started doing a few years ago.  I was trying to make a daily list of gifts.  And to be honest, I was struggling.  I was too distracted, too stressed, and too exhausted to keep writing things down.  But on this particular day I decided it might be easier for me to take pictures of the things I saw as gifts.

As I walk through Advent this year with you, I am trying to slow down this season and not stress myself out like I usually do.  It would be pretty hypocritical of me to tell you “do as I say not as I do,” so I am making a real effort here…and those of who know me personally or who may see me around town can keep me accountable!

So, no, I am not done shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping or sending out Christmas cards…in fact, I have not even started some of those things!!

Deep breaths, Carla.

It is actually working…this taking Christmas slowly and stopping to ponder, reflect, and enjoy the simple things.

So, as I was racing from one place to another (at my usual frantic pace), I saw an unusual sight.  One that made me smile.  Normally, I would think about it for a second and then drive on, but in my attempt to do things differently that year, I turned the car around and found a way to get back to what I saw.  I stopped, parked the car, and then got out my phone and took a picture.

And there it was.

A Christmas tree, fully decorated, sitting in the bed of a parked pick-up truck.

It was a unexpected gift that brought me joy in the midst of a routine, ordinary day.

Simple, surprising, unexpected.

And I was almost too busy and too distracted to fully appreciate it.

 

It made me think of the shepherds watching their flocks in the midst of a routine, ordinary night.  The angels broke in with “good news of great joy.”  They, too, stopped what they were doing and went to check out this unexpected gift.

And what did they find?  A baby in a manger.  Who doesn’t smile when they see a baby?

This was not the gift they were expecting, but it was the only gift they needed.

A Savior.  The Messiah.  The Son of God.  Immanuel…God with us.

If you are reading my Advent devotional, “Have Yourself a Mary Little Christmas,” this week we examine Mary’s reaction to the angel Gabriel’s announcement.  She could have responded in so many ways to the unexpected gift God was about to give the world through her.  I think back to myself as teenage girl in love and hoping to get to married.  I think my reaction may have gone something like this:

You don’t understand…I have plans.  Big plans!  I am going to get married.  

What will I tell my parents?  Joseph?  

Who is ever going to believe me?

This is crazy…how will this even work?  

I am going to be ruined for life…don’t you realize that?

I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong girl…

Not Mary, however.  She instead simply stated in Luke 1:38:

I am the Lord’s servant.  May everything you have said about come true.

She saw this interruption, inconvenience, and interference in her life and her plans as a gift.

An unexpected gift.

And instead of fighting it, resisting it, or trying to give it back, she quietly and humbly accepted it.

As we prepare for Christmas this year, I think it is worth taking the time to focus and reflect on how we accept unexpected gifts.

Do we even see these gifts or are we too busy rushing on to the next thing?

Or are we disappointed, hoping for something more?

We can learn a lot from both the shepherds and Mary in how to both SEE and ACCEPT  the unexpected gifts in our lives.

Here’s my challenge for us this week:

Let’s stop and look for those unexpected gifts that God gives us each day.  You may write them down, you may take a picture, or even do something else to acknowledge the gift, but for this to work, you need to do me a HUGE FAVOR, okay?

You need to either comment below or send me an email campgasser@gmail.com so I can start compiling a list of all our UNEXPECTED GIFTS.

I will publish this list (without any of your names!) on #ThankfulThursday’s post, so that we can all be encouraged.

There might even be some prizes given out for those of you who respond!  😉

So keep your eyes open for the unexpected on this #MindfulMonday while also remembering that He has already given us the most amazing gift of all…JESUS.

Let’s start with a simple prayer:

“God, help us see and accept your unexpected gifts today!”