Perfect Gifts

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights..." James 1:17.

Fred read that verse at Arielle's dedication. It was very meaningful to us because our baby daughter was the perfect gift from God. Right now my two sleeping girls are still perfect gifts, as is my husband hard at work since early this morning.

God gives many gifts if we have the eyes to see them. The other night Fred came home and told me a praying mantis was on my car. Arielle and I ran outside to see. We slowly approached with the camera and as we did, the insect pivoted his head and glared right at us. We snapped a picture anyway. We were amazed to see that the mantis was a mixture of red and green. Did it change color to be camouflaged against my car?

Yesterday the hibiscus I just bought at a bargain price opened its first wide, purple flower after basking in the sun all afternoon. I have been waiting a long time for hibiscus to bloom on my deck. I do believe it is my favorite flower. Unfortunately, I killed two beautiful plants by leaving them outside after a frost and I have wanted another plant every since, but they are usually so expensive. I was lucky to find this one.

I was talking with my friend Connie in the kitchen a few days ago and a brown streak flew by the window. Then another and another. We ran to look out the front of the house and there was a herd of deer standing under our big maple, in the middle of the afternoon, not six feet away from the window. What beautiful creatures! My usual annoyance with them for the damage they do to our garden was suspended as we watched them.

All gifts! All perfect gifts from the Father! This morning I was reading World magazine as the sun rose over the field in front of our house. An article entitled "Wanted: Spiritual Eyes" by Andree Seu made me think about these things. What exactly is a good and perfect gift? She said what it meant to her was to "see God's love in the details of my day."

It is easy to see God in nature. But what about events and circumstances? Maybe ones that appeared good but turned out to be not so good? Do we withhold judgment on whether these are good gifts until we see the outcome? If the outcome is poor, was it not a gift? Or what about real problems that arise? What if those things are as she states, "a necessary stepping stone to better things" and therefore a gift? I don't know all the answers.

When I look at the sunrise, I'm good at blocking out the telephone wires and the noise of the traffic to see the beauty. I love cool September mornings like this, despite the ragweed pollen that clogs my nose. Fred and the girls took a hike and played around with his metal detector. After a strong positive reading behind our house, Fred dug out of the dirt a honey-combed black rock bejeweled with sparkles. The girls were so excited to find this treasure.

I pray my spiritual eyes can be more attuned to filter out the pollution and dirt of this world and see the gems, those perfect gifts, the gifts from the Father, given freely for us.