December 6th, 2004

TRUE CONFESSIONS

I have no idea where my mom had gone that cold winter evening, but Daddy was at school and my two older brothers and I were home alone.  The tree was brightly lit with large colorful lights and adorned with lots of homemade ornaments and tinsel. 

 Anticipation of Christmas was a little more than I could bear, so I went “snooping” around the house.  Then it hit me!  The closet under the stairwell!  I ran down the stairs, flung the door open and hit the jackpot!  There it was, way in the back under the bottom two stairs…a sack with a big box in it!

Faster than a spider, this little 8 year old climbed over everything with speed and agility to get to the back of the closet.  I carefully balanced myself on the things stored there, perched to open the “mystery sack.” 

At this point, I know you are thinking, “She’s going to stop and realize that she can’t open this mystery package before Christmas.  It would spoil her big day and her parents’ expectations to surprise her.”

Nope!  This little girl just ripped the bag off the box, eyes as big as pancakes, heart beating fast, barely able to breath.  There it was!  Under the cellophane window on the front of the big pink box was the most beautiful baby doll with real hair (or at least, to me it was) wearing pink flannel pajamas.  She looked like a real baby, all soft and cuddly.  Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping. 

“This is it!” I thought.  This is heaven!  But wait!  There’s more!  The box said that if you wind up the knob on her back, she stretches around like she’s waking up, all the while delicately playing “Brahms Lullaby” in the little music box in her back.

Oh my!  I couldn’t take the twisties off that held her neatly in that box and take her out to hold her…or could I?

You guessed it!  Here I was in the back of the closet playing with my Christmas present several days before Christmas!  My brothers figured out what I was doing and threatened “to tell” when my mom got home.  That statement burst my “fantasy bubble” and reality set back in.  After a mild panic, I looked around and there to the side of me was another big bag.  Could it be my brothers’ presents?  Yes, it was.

In my selfish, childish conquest, I not only ruined my Christmas surprise, but I managed to ruin my brothers’ surprise, too.

You know, life is like that.  There are certain gifts that God has in store for us in His perfect timing.  In our humanness, we want them now!  We are always trying to find a way to shortcut our blessings, when, if we would only surrender to God’s timing, and learn to trust Him for our best interest in His heart, we would find out how precious, peaceful and rewarding it can be to receive His gifts in the proper timing.

We’ve all had to learn lessons the hard way.  I’m happy to report that I don’t go snooping around the house before Christmas anymore.  If that were the only lesson I needed to learn, life would be a breeze, but we know that there are a lot more challenges greater than that.

The good news is that we don’t have to figure life out on our own.  God’s love and His Word is there to guide us through all situations.  Psalm 37:3-4 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I can’t think of anything greater than having the desires of my heart given to me by God, Himself, yet He says that can happen.  What a Christmas that would be to have such a relationship with God that He would do just that! 

You can!  Reach out and make Him Lord of your life through receiving His most precious gift; Jesus Christ His Son into your heart.  What’s the worst that could happen…Eternal life in paradise, or the peace that He promises to give your cleansed heart here on earth?  It’s all good and like it says in Romans 10:11 “…you will not be disappointed!”

Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Linda Smiley

© 2004 TeamRFC