I’m taking a quick break from chocolate truffles, Smarty Party, triple chocolate fudge, Cranium, dark chocolates, and Are You Smarter than I Fifth Grader to announce the winners of the Lullaby CD, the giver of the amazing Advent basket, and to brush my teeth.
Before I reveal any identities, let begin by sharing the last few gifts from the wonder basket.
Here’s the candle I mentioned in my last post that I opened the day I smelled my neighbor’s spice candle.
The day after I bought my sister-in-law earrings and thought, “Hmm, maybe I should add earrings to my wish list, I opened
The day that we left for a long road trip, I opened
The day that I realized I forget to pack shower gel for stated road trip, I opened
The day I chewed my last piece of mint gum, I opened
And while many of you thought that mind reading gift basket may have the power to produce Uggs, there were no Uggs in the basket.
And there were no Uggs under the tree.
But,
do not sigh,
because Ava and I now have a matching set of these:
It’s off to the pond we go! Thank you Meme and Papa (for mine), and Grandma Penny and Grandpa Lyle (for Ava’s)!!
As I unwrapped each of the gifts, I became more and more curious about the giver of the basket. How could she have boughten and wrapped all these gifts? How did she know so much about me? Why would she choose me to give so many sweet and thoughtful gifts to? And how did she know what I was going to need each day???
I was both excited and terrified to open the last gift.
The more sweet gifts I opened, the more I wanted to know the gift-giver. Not because I hope that she will give me more gifts, but because I have come to love the person behind the gifts. Through her presents, I have learned that she is thoughtful. She is kind. She is practical. She has good taste. She likes chocolate.
It occurred to me as I waited to open the final gift that Christ’s gifts similarly reveal his character and make me long to meet him. I don’t love Him for His gifts, I love what His gifts reveal about who He is. He is loving. He is kind. He is merciful. He is all-knowing and provides what I don’t even know that I need. Now I only know Him through His gifts, someday I will know Him face to face.
So with great excitement and trembling, I opened this:
and this:Dear Rachel,
I hope that Christ has revealed more of Himself
to you this Christmas season
and pray this basket has been
an expression of His deep love & sweet care.
Love, Christy
&
Sara
And while you are rocking your babes tonight, will you please say a prayer for Sweet Maisie and her family.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
I don’t know who Christy is, but I feel like I would like to, by the way her gifts and care manifested themselves in your life. And even though I do know Jesus, hearing about Him and seeing Him in your life makes me want to know Him better. So I’m thankful for both of you as I consider how great a gift God himself truly is. Merry Christmas!!!
Aren’t you glad Nate wouldn’t let you compare handwriting samples?! I still would have peeked, but I’m glad you had such a wonderful surprise, and have such a sweet sister in Christ. We all need them!
Ruthie and I gasped at your Christmas gift picture, the girls each received a pair of skates for Christmas, Lydia has the exact pair that Ava has! We must plan a skating afternoon (to be followed immediately by hot cocoa with marshmallows, of course!).
We are still enjoying family in Green Bay, but haven’t had a chance to sample Pickit yet. Maybe tonight!
Merry, Merry Christmas!
WOW…I won!! 🙂 Thanks, Rachel!!! 🙂
And, what an amazing and dear friend you have…how the Lord used her to bless your life in so many perfect ways!!! How sweet and special! Thanks for sharing that all with us…I found it quite amazing how perfectly timed these little treasures were!
I hope that you and Ava have fun skating too…that sounds like lots of fun! I haven’t skated in YEARS! Enjoy and have a great rest of the week!
The suspense on the basket was killing me! That is so nice, very thoughtful! I love your skates!! Has Ava ever been skating before? shanel
How sweet of Christy to prepare all those gifts for you! (Even though I don’t know which Christy she is.) Thanks for sharing them with us. What a blessing from the Lord!
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