The Different Angles of a Gift

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord….” (Psalm 127:3)

This past weekend (Friday through Sunday) caused me to view this verse in an extremely different light than ever before. You may be asking what caused this change of view to occur? I am glad you asked. My wife and I moved our twins into college as freshmen over these days: Seth to Carson Newman University on Friday and Saturday, and Hannah to Anderson University on Saturday and Sunday. On the drive back home Sunday afternoon and upon arrival at our home that evening, I began to dwell on the different angles of this verse.

First of all, a gift is something that is appreciated when we receive it (that is most of them are!). When considering children, this is especially true. I began to think about all of the appreciation that I have toward God for giving Kim and I two of the most wonderful and amazing children that a parent could ask for. I truly do appreciate the gift of Hannah and Seth that God has blessed us with.

Secondly, sometimes we take gifts for granted – especially if we have been in possession of these gifts for quite some time. Upon walking into our home this Sunday evening, I walked into one of our twins’ bedroom and I noticed something that was lying on the floor that probably should not have been lying there. At that point, I began to think how I would have reacted had this child been home at that point. I probably would have gotten onto this particular twin and asked that the stuff be picked up and put where it belonged. However on this evening, my heart began to wish that my child was home next to this stuff that was on the floor. How I would have traded a little bit of mess on the floor accompanied by my child for a clean room with no child. Parents, sometimes we take our children for granted even when we don’t realize we are doing so. What a gift our children truly are!

Finally, over this weekend I realized that the reason that God blesses us with the gifts that He gives us – including children – is so that we can eventually share these gifts with the world around us. On Saturday afternoon, Kim and I with Seth strolled down the streets (along with hundreds of other parents and their freshmen) on the campus of Carson Newman University for the Prayer Walk on the way to the family worship service. On Sunday morning, Kim and I stood on the sidewalk of the streets (along with hundreds of other parents) on the campus of Anderson University to celebrate Hannah (and all of the other freshmen) as they made their way for the Archway Walk after the family worship service. In both of those instances, I was giving thanks to God for the wonderful children that He had blessed me with and was giving thanks that they were both exactly where God had led them to be at this point in their lives. I realized it was now time for me to share my gifts – Seth and Hannah – with the worlds of Carson Newman University and Anderson University (and beyond). God has graciously blessed my life with the presence of these two gifts in our home for the last 18 years, and now it was time for me to share these gifts with a world that truly will experience the blessing that Kim and I have been blessed to experience (and will continue to experience – but just in a different way).

Job realized this truth during his time of immense transition and stated it in these words, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” The Lord has given me the blessed gifts of Hannah and Seth, and to a degree He has taken them away (but only in a small way – nowhere compared to Job). In this time of transition for Job, he responded by saying, “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” I can truly say that this is my response at this time of my life! As I lived out these experiences on the two respective campuses, my heart was crying out “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” As I returned to an empty nest home, even though it was difficult, my heart continued to cry out “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” Why and how could this happen? Because I realized that Hannah and Seth are truly gifts of the Lord – and that it was simply a different stage in how these gifts are being used to bring glory to God! That is my final prayer – that Hannah and Seth both would bring glory to God as they share themselves with their new worlds!