Red, White and Sparkly

This week I had one of those little moments that just sort of smacked me in the head as a life lesson. Thought if I got smacked, maybe you should too. (Boy don’t you just LOVE the encouragement you get here in Bekahland? Welcome! I hope you get smacked!)


I just love presents. Love to plan them, love to give them, and not gonna lie – love to receive them. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it? To know that someone thought about you enough to get you a present?

One of my friends came to visit this week, and I ran around the house, as my mother would say, “being a Martha.” I needed to unload the dishwasher so I could reload it and get the mess off the counter. I needed to clean up the living room – a room I’d been too busy to even walk into for two whole days. (Seriously. Who doesn’t walk into a living room for two days??? You’re not home enough if that’s the case, I think.)

And right before we left the house for a little bit, I paused in front of the massive mirror that hangs on the dining room wall, above the buffet. I needed to “check the fat factor.” You girls know what I’m talking about. You turn sideways, suck in, and lament how much more needs to disappear out of the tummy region. After giving the standard snarl of disgust and defeat at the end of the fat factor check, we headed out.

And when we walked back in the door, I saw it.

A perfect rectangle wrapped in bright red paper, tied with a white ribbon and finished with a sparkly silver bow. A present. For me.

Red. White. Sparkly silver. How had I missed that?

I turned and said, “When did you put that there?”

The answer stopped me in my tracks:

I did it before we left. I thought you would see it when you looked in the mirror, but you didn’t. I knew you’d see it eventually.

That red, white, and sparkly silver piece of goodness had been literally 2 feet from my eyes and the only thing I could see was a muffin top. I was so focused on what I saw in the mirror – and more specifically, what I saw that did not meet with my approval – that I missed the generosity and blessing wrapped in a bow and parked 2 feet away.

And immediately I thought, How many times do I do that to God every day? He plants a gift in front of me – something He knows I’ll love so much – and I miss it because I’m focused on the things that annoy me.

Gulp.

I kept the bow. Think I’ll leave it out for a while as a reminder that I don’t want to miss the gifts.