gift giving lessons from Abby

My two year old has been at it again. Showing me God's heart through her tiny life.

We celebrated my birthday a few days early with some friends on Tuesday night. Shawn made my favorite cake and a couple of friends brought gifts. Well, Abby saw my excitement about opening presents. (Yes, I'm really still just a kid about birthdays even though I try really hard to be cool and nonchalant about the whole thing) This afternoon she located a crumpled up piece of pink tissue and took off on a gift-giving spree.

First she wrapped up my favorite earrings and brought them to me. Jumping up and down with excitement and yelling, "Happy birthday." Then she brought me the nativity set, then a porcelain Santa, and the list goes on. With each delivery, she became more animated and more excited about me opening the gift. It was a fun game. She enjoyed giving, and I knew I would love what was in the package because it was already mine.

Then I started thinking about her little game and realized that maybe it had some God applications. You see, everything that I bring to God already belongs to him anyway. I am not bringing God anything new, or different that He has already received throughout the ages past. And yet, I'm pretty sure that when I am excited about sharing with God and bringing Him offerings that He enjoys it even more than I enjoyed the gift game with Abby.

The delight in Abby's game came from how much I love her and the beauty of seeing her learning how to love me. I think that's the delight that God feels as He loves us and watches us learning how to love Him.