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Saturday 31 July 2021

Gifts of the Season

 

Mhairi is scheduled to fly back to LA next week, for an extended visit. I wrapped a few small gifts for Mom, who will be able to celebrate her 97th birthday with Mhairi. What a blessing, though I do confess my heart is sad that I won’t be with them.

The gifts are small – dark chocolate with nuts, shortbread, a tartan sheep. Mom doesn’t need anything, but I know what she enjoys, and the sheep will remind her of Queenie, her pet when she was a teenager on the farm, and the tartan may remind her where I am. Small gifts, but tailored.

Paul talks about gifts to the Corinthians, teaching that God gives each of us gifts. Suddenly this morning I saw the endless tedium and anxiety of sorting out insurance and banking situations for Mom in a different light. He has gifted me, in this season, with all that I need to walk Mom home safely. And more than that, because I can be her support team, her life in Sunrise can be her final mission field. I’ve been told more than once by one of the care managers there that she loves enabling a skype call between us, because of the love and laughter we still share.

Praying that Mom will continue to shine with the light of Jesus, and that I will trust that he gives me all I need to oversee the complications of the American healthcare system, to make sensible banking decisions, and in all of that, to remember the more mundane – the renewal of clothing and restocking of toiletries. Those are just the gifts I need for this season, and the gifts that will bring me joy as I successfully walk her into his arms. From six thousand miles away.

God’s goodness never fails. With the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit come all the treasures of heaven. We are each gifted with what we need, when we need it. Why don’t I trust more in that truth, that promise from God, and not wake up in the night thinking about details I don’t comprehend?

Today may I, and may you, not only receive the gifts of God which are special and unique to each of us, but actually open them and smile with delight to see that he has chosen to give us exactly what we need for this season.

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