Spy Kids Hat

Shannon — Fri, 07 May 2010 12:25:00 GMT

I stopped at my parents’ house today, and saw my dad out working in the yard. When I told him I liked his hat, he grinned and said, “This is the hat Cole gave me for Christmas!” (Thanks to Santa’s Secret Shop. The leopard print earmuffs were purchased there, also.)

I’ve written before about how highly I regard my dad. He’s a great guy. There’s something special seeing about a 'Spy Kids 3D' baseball cap still in his possession (let alone on his head!!) some sixteen months after receiving it from an eight-year-old grandson. Not that the hat is anything special--my dad is.

The gifts that I offer to the King of Kings obviously lack the decorum he deserves. I sing to him with imperfect pitch, and serve his church with fumbling hands. Among the vast treasury of his great wealth, I’m sure my purest and best offerings look as unfitting as a Spy Kids hat.

Yet, he accepts my offerings because I am his own. This says little about my gifts, but much about Him.

$1 Sticker on the Windshield

Shannon — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:48:00 GMT

Several years ago we gave an older vehicle to some friends who needed an extra. To make the transaction legal, Ken asked them to pay a dollar.

Lindsay later asked, "Daddy, did you really sell our van for a dollar?" Ken told her yes, he had.

She said, "Well... I think you could've gotten at least two dollars for it." Her earnestness made Ken smile.

Today, even a $2 sticker on a windshield would indicate 'gift' to Lindsay. She's learning more about how much things cost-- as am I.

I knew, back when I accepted Christ's salvation, that I was getting an undeservedly good deal. But I'm just starting to understand the magnitude of the sticker price, and the unlikelihood for me to receive such a gift. Had our friends been the type to regularly spit in our faces, we wouldn't have given them even our rusty, stained van with cracks in the windshield. But though I regularly offend Christ in the most horrifying ways, he tossed me the keys to a blood-bought, shiny new vehicle with VIP tags dangling from the mirror and the GPS's 'home' set to the Father's throne.

I'm still quite child-like in the way I think about the value of this gift. But I think it brings him honor when I ponder its worth.

Tiny Paragraphs : Gift

Spy Kids Hat

$1 Sticker on the Windshield