Gift

As a parent, I have always wanted to give Carli and Whitney one special gift.  It is not a one-time gift, but rather a state of being that I hope they will always know will be there.  I do not know when I first realized I had received the gift myself.  It is something you become aware of, only to see that it has been with you longer than any memory you can recall.  As I have gotten older, I have come to believe that it is the most important gift my parents could have ever given me.  If they thought about it, I doubt they would have thought of it as something special, it was just part of who and what they are.
 
Their gift mirrors a gift God offers you and me.  The description of the gift begins like this.  “When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.  When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.  When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—” (Isaiah 43.2) There are reasons behind the gift, but that isn’t my point today.
 
My experience tells me that this gift comes with a catch.  It is only a gift when the receivers realizes and accepts it for what it is.  Without acceptance, the actions that represent the form of this gift are something parents choose to do in their better moments.  Without acceptance, God’s love only finds a home where a heart is open.
 
Among God’s way of reaching me were parents who gave me the gift.  It took me some time to see beyond the surface and understand their hearts.  When I did, I realized I carried one of life’s greatest treasures with me.
 
God offers you and me the same gift I offer to Carli and Whitney.  Divinity is consistent where I fail.  Divinity is present where I am absent.  Divinity is resilient where I crack.  I know with my head that God loves me.  Today I want to know this with my heart.