Monday, April 29, 2013

Custom Gifts







Last week was "date week" in our home.  My daughter and I had a date one night.  My son and I had a guys night on another.  My wife and I went last.  The easy thing to do would be to take all three of them to the same place and do the same things.  But they deserve better.  They deserve customized dates.

So, on Wednesday night I took my daughter to the Cheesecake Factory.  We dressed up (relatively speaking), had a great meal, and then went shopping.  While we walked around the mall, she reached out and took hold of my hand.  Can't believe she still wants to do that.

On Thursday night my son and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  We watched the first round of the NFL draft together.  We wore our jerseys, sat 18 inches in front of the television, and talked football.  He smiled for 3 hours straight.

On Friday, at the romantic hour of 5:00 PM, my wife and I went to Chipotle.  We were home by 7:00!  But, we had two hours of uninterrupted conversation over a mostly organic/natural meal.  That is what she wanted the most. The conversation...not the food.  

God does the same thing for us.  He could just give us all generic gifts and expressions of appreciation. But he doesn't.  Jesus once talked about how fathers love to give gifts to their children.  And how, God loves even more to give good gifts to His children.  When He gives, He gives customized gifts.

He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He takes His time in preparing gifts.  He gives them when we need them the most.

He doesn't always give me what I ask for.  But I trust Him to give me what I really need...when I need it.



1 comment:

Melissa said...

I like this story of God's gifts for you and your family. Can you imagine His happiness at those wonderful 'family gifts' of time and devotion for the Rowland family! He continues to give to us...forever and always and for that, I'm very thankful.

Thanks for sharing.