Kathy Mouw, Director of Children's Ministries at Providence Church | Thankfulness. Immediately, my favorite gift of all time comes to mind. It was an Easy Bake Oven, and I was oh, about 40 years old. No, that is not a typo. Here’s the story...
When I was a little girl, I wanted, craved even, an Easy Bake Oven. My Mother, a very generous gift giver, said no. She said I could use her oven and her pans any time I wanted to bake, and she would help me. But oh how my heart yearned for that tempting Easy Bake Oven! I was sure that that little oven and those little pans would make much tastier treats than had ever been made before, and that they would be much more fun than my Mom’s stodgy old normal oven and bake ware.
Despite her stubbornness on this one desire of mine, my Mother was very wise. She knew that in little or no time I would grow tired of or too old to be interested in that little oven. She knew me better than I knew myself, and knew that in this instance saying no was the right thing to do. Yet 30-some years later, I would still tell the story of not getting an Easy Bake Oven.
Cut to my late 30’s/early 40’s. My husband, who had heard the oven story a dozen times by then, did the most unselfish, lavish, wonderful thing. Even though I had never asked him, and never even thought that I still might want a child’s toy, he bought me an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. I was beside myself in my happiness! I felt completely loved, and understood, and heard. And yes, I cried just a little. It remains the most amazing gift I’ve ever received, because it was given to fulfill a little girls’ dream, even though I was well past my little girl years, and was given by someone who knew me so well that he knew how happy it would make me.
So what does this have to do with thankfulness? Well, first and most obviously, I was, and remain, thankful to my husband for knowing me deeply and wanting to give me the desires of my heart, just because. He’s pretty great that way!
But I’m also thankful to my Mother for NOT giving me the oven. You see, she was right. To this day, several years after receiving it, I haven’t used it once. I still plan to, some day (if I can find fresh mixes for it!). And I’m still in love with it and all it represents. But life is busy, and time moves along, and even as a reasoning adult, it remains unused (so far) in the box. If she had given it to me, and it had been a “wasted” gift, I would have been heartbroken about disappointing her. She knew what was best for me.
All of this got me to thinking about how thankful I am that God knows me and loves enough to give lavishly to me even without my asking, but he also knows what’s best for me, and sometimes withholds the very thing I think I must have. I’m so grateful that he knows and always has in mind for me the best thing. So thank you God for all of your wonderful gifts, and the way you care for each of us. And thank you Mom, and Tim, for loving me well.
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Stan Scripps | It is amazing what will grow from a stump. You may have thought the old tree was finished. But give it a little rain and a little sun and a little time, and look at this! Where did it come from? Did someone plant a seed? No one planted it, perhaps ever. Maybe God just planted it there once while no one was looking a long time ago. Then someone came along and cut it down and for a while it looked dead; but then this. It is kind of like Easter.