Surprise Me!

Many years ago when I lived in Connecticut, a woman in the church I attended came to me and said I had a dream about you. I thought oh, really? I was all ears.

I don't remember exactly how the dream went but I do remember that it had to do with me having lots and lots of presents. She said that I had lots of presents and all of them were mine. They were beautifully wrapped gifts. She said "I think God is going to give you lots of gifts. They were there for the picking."

I thought WOW! That's cool! I said something spiritual like MORE LORD! We said that a lot in those days. I can remember some really neat times where declaring "more Lord" meant some amazing experiences in God.

I like gifts. I have some definite feelings about gifts. First, they should be from the heart. To me that means that the giver knows me well enough to know what I might like. They know my favorite color, favorite flower, favorite food, or something.

Cost doesn't matter. A gift of the right type of chocolate covered cherries - Cella with 100% liquid centers absolutely delights me. The ones with cream centers will not make me happy. An inexpensive box of the right kind, tells me you know me well enough to buy the right kind. It is the knowing me that is much more important than the gift itself.

I also like to be surprised. My husband is not good at surprise or even picking gifts. One Christmas, I agreed to go shopping with him. I picked out my presents and he picked out his. We wrapped them and put them under the tree. I hated it. The gifts had no meaning. There was nothing special about them at all.

Maybe I'm just too hard to please. Nevertheless, I still like to be surprised with a gift from the heart. I want a gift that meets my criteria of a true gift.

It's the same way with God's gifts. I want all the gifts that the woman saw - I want to be showered with gifts from God. I want to open those beautifully packaged gifts and delight in each one. I know God knows my heart and I know His heart for me is what is best. I imagine any gift God gives me with be perfect.

That's why I can't chose today a gift to write about today. I can think of lots of areas that I'm deficient. I have lots of things that need fixing. I have lots of things I want to do better. There are lots of gifts I'd love to have to not just benefit myself but to give back to the body of Christ. I'd like to lay hands on every person with cancer and see them miraculously healed. I'd like to multiply fish and bread and feed thousands of hungry people. I have a holy greed, I want it all.

I'm not going to chose. I'm going to let God chose what gifts He has for me. I want Him to not only send it from His heart, but also to surprise me.