The Gift

Christmas couldn’t have come sooner! I’ll never forget that morning. I don’t think that I had slept much the night before thinking about the gift that had been on my mind day and night for months. I sprung out of bed, ran down the stairs and headed straight to the living room. Then, I checked the other rooms in the house....no trace. As much as I was hoping that the gift would already be there, it wasn’t. It was too early. I’d have to wait.

The anticipation was unbearable. I paced throughout the house. I snuck behind the beige cotton curtains in our living room, taking every opportunity to see if the bearer of my gift had pulled into the driveway. No luck. I must have looked out that living room window a thousand times. My mother rustled around in the kitchen, preparing some food for our visitors. How could anyone think about food at a time like this? My gift was about to arrive! The hours went by and still, there was no sign of my gift. Every minute that passed seemed like hours. To an excited 8 year old, that’s a very long time!

Finally, the car pulled into the driveway. I was cleverly tucked in front of the curtain again to get the best possible view of my special gift. The driver got out. She then opened the passenger side back door of her car and there was my gift in full view! Wow! Far better than I had ever expected! I was now so over the top with excitement that I got completely tangled in the curtains. I took a deep breath as I heard a knock at the door. The moment that I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

You might think that my special day was Christmas, but it wasn’t. It was a bright, hot June morning, just before lunch. It was the day that my baby sister arrived! She was the gift that I had been waiting for. I had seen her in my mind a thousand times. I’d played with her in my dreams and we had become best friends, long before this day. I can’t even imagine how my mom and dad felt. They had waited so much longer. All that rustling in the kitchen had been my mom preparing lunch for my new 7 month old baby sister. I vividly remember every detail of that day. For one, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was just so beautiful with her piercing green eyes and fair complexion. She had short wispy hair and she smelled so good. In the kitchen, she clung tightly to my mom. She was quite serious and observant. I don’t recall any sounds coming from her lips. She simply watched and waited for each moment to unfold. She and I were so different. I had dark olive skin and dark brown eyes. She had those beautiful green eyes and light colored hair. But none of that really mattered to me. She was perfect and she was now part of our family. Most importantly, she was MY sister!

My mom must have sensed my curiosity and intense emotions. I will always cherish her next words to me, “Do you want to hold her? She wants to meet her big sister. Here, sit on the couch and I’ll put her on your lap” There she sat staring up at me with those mesmerizing eyes. In that moment, my heart melted and instantly fused with hers. That day was the beginning of a very beautiful relationship with my sister. We have always been best friends, journeying through all of life’s adventures together. We know each other better than anyone else. We have laughed together and cried together. We have shared our dreams, our hopes and our disappointments. We have held each other close and supported one another during very painful times. We have celebrated many joys. We may not have been born of the same parents, but we were gifted to the same family through adoption. God knew that I’d be anxiously awaiting my little sister that day. He had planned it all out. He knew every detail long before I had perched myself in the curtains with that un-contained excitement or dreamt of the day that I would hold my baby sister in my arms.

God is so very good. He is the giver of life, of love and of blessings beyond our comprehension. He is abounding in His gifts. Today, I look back fondly on my many memories and celebrate one of the greatest gifts that I’ve ever received in my life- the gift of my baby sister.

Expect Sunshine!

I woke up the other morning to a loud thundering rain on my roof. The sky was dark and the rain pelted down like ice chips on my windows. There wasn’t much in me that wanted to crawl out of my warm, cozy bed. But, I had to get up regardless of the rainy day that lay ahead. I went about my regular morning routine taking the occasional glance out the window to confirm my emotions. This was going to be a cold, dreary day. More than likely, I was going to feel unmotivated. As soon as I allowed the thoughts to enter my mind, the energy seemed to get sapped right out of me. Say it and you will be it.
When my 10 year old son came out of his room, he was dressed in his typical attire of camouflage pants and a green t-shirt. He went about his morning as usual until he came to the point where he was slipping his shoes on to run out for the bus. He got up and much to my surprise were his big black sunglasses. They weren’t in his pocket either. He was wearing them.
I did a bit of a double take out the window. YUP, it was still pouring rain. While I had been busy grabbing my umbrella, he had been looking for his sunglasses. “Josh, it’s raining out. Are you sure that you want to wear those sunglasses? I didn’t see any sunshine in the fore-cast for today.” To my surprise, he replied,” Mom, I know it’s raining. But the sun might come out, so I need my glasses.” It was interesting how strange it felt to have him standing there wearing those sunglasses. I paused for a while to think what my next words would be. I just couldn’t resist continuing the conversation. “Seriously though Josh - sunglasses?”
Now, I am a pretty flexible and laid back person. But, I had read the forecast just minutes before. There wasn’t a hint of sunshine in the day. Or at least that’s what I had heard and that’s precisely what I expected. My son Josh, on the other hand, expected sunshine in his day, regardless of the forecast or the obvious down pour outside. My 10 year old taught me a very valuable lesson that morning.
Why must we enter our days expecting rain, even if it’s all that we see with our eyes? Josh was believing for sunshine and his faith was clearly stronger than mine. Even though it didn’t really get sunny that day, the pouring rain lost a bit of its thunder in my mind. I saw it through Josh’s eyes - a rainy day full of possibilities. Or, should I say that I saw it through Josh’s sunglasses?
So, there’s a lesson for all of us. Come what may in your day, expect sunshine! Don’t let the rainy circumstances of your life keep you from seeing the possibilities. Live each moment with an expectation of goodness. Be grateful for all of your days - even the rainy ones.
And for the record, when Josh jumped off the bus that afternoon, he was still wearing his sunglasses. I love that boy! He brings sunshine to my day in more ways than one.