26 Jul He Loves to Give Good Gifts

Today I held a pair of tattered ballet shoes in my hand, hovering them above the garbage, pondering the possible reactions of my three-year old if she discovered my subterfuge. Wisely, I put them aside, having just enough prescience to know that throwing them away before buying the next size up would be catastrophic for everyone.

The shoes are practically disintegrating, dirty, and more than a little stinky because they have been worn every single day this summer once I finally stopped trying to preserve them for her epic week of Frozen dance camp. I literally have to pry them off her feet for naptime as I try to explain why cutting off the circulation to your feet while sleeping is a bad idea.

As I smiled at the fact that my princess-dress-only-every-day daughter has graduated to tutu-only-every-day-pants-are-optional ballerina, I remembered the first day she put on her favorite pink sparkly tutu.

A few months after Tad was born, I planned a special date for Penny and me which turned out to be one of the best days of our lives. I got a babysitter, dressed us up in some finery, and took her to a tea room for a mother daughter tea. In the car, she decided the princess dress she was wearing wasn’t quite the right choice, so after I parked, we did a quick deck change into her fur-lined Aurora ballgown, a perfect complement to our elegant tea.

Her eyes widened in wonder as we walked into the sumptuously decorated room-flowers, lace, and sparkles as far as the eye could see. She was in heaven. We sat across from each other like grown-ups as she took delicate sips of her appropriately monikered “princess tea.” We shared her first petit four, munched on tea sandwiches, consumed more sugar than advisable. We had the time of our lives. I glimpsed our future and pictured us doing all the fabulous mother-daughter things my own mom shared with me and my heart was so happy to be able to give her the gift of our special time together.

As we were leaving, she spotted a ballet school next door with frilly, frothy ballerina confections in the window. “Please, mommy, please, can we go look?!” We peeked in the window but it was closed for the day as she sadly turned to walk back to the car. “You know what, Penny? There’s another location on our way home. Should we stop there to see if they’re open?” I figured it would probably be closed as well, but she was so excited I thought we could at least give it a try.

We approached the second studio to find the door locked but the lights on. I spotted a woman cleaning in the back and waved through the window. She went into the office and a few moments later, the owner came out to welcome us into the store. I knelt down on the floor and said, “Ok Penny, we’re having a very special day together, let’s pick one tutu so we can remember how much fun we had.” She carefully fingered each tutu, trying to choose between yellow, purple, or pink, ultimately settling on a sparkly pink tutu with a glittery tulle skirt and an intricately latticed back. Then she looked up at me imploringly, “Mama, can we please get some fairy wings too?” Yes, sweet girl, we can get some fairy wings.

I wish I could bottle up how I felt that day and take it as an elixir every morning. It felt so good to make my daughter happy. It felt so good to give her good gifts, to lavish my love on her, and to gaze at her smiling little face across the table.

As I was telling my husband how much fun we had, the Lord reminded me that he too loves to give us good gifts. He delights in blessing us; he can’t wait to provide for us. He loves to see us enjoying the good things he’s given us for it brings him great joy.

In Matthew 7 Jesus says, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

God loves to give us good gifts when we ask, so ask your loving Daddy for what you need and spend a few moments imagining his joy in blessing you. Then spend some time relishing in the goodness he’s already provided. Snuggle up to your baby, soak up the priceless giggles from an extended tickle session, watch the clouds float by on the trampoline, or look into your husband’s sweet face and thank God for giving you a kind and loving man. When we ask for and delight in God’s goodness to us, we make him feel the way you feel when you knock it out of the park with your kids.  And if we can imagine a Heavenly Father who is better to us than we are to our kids on our very best days, there is nothing to keep us from living like we are really, truly loved.