We took a field trip to IKEA last weekend to do some furniture reconnaissance work. (Side note: I had never been to an IKEA before. Wow. Place is crazy.) For some reason this swedish furniture giant sells a number of adorable, super soft, “pets”. When I saw this one, I said, “Our child needs this awesome thing.” At some point, while wandering around the vast, endless displays of furniture, it hit me: this is the first present we have bought for our child. Another milestone on the journey to parenthood. Hopefully, as parents, we will provide many good gifts, gifts that far surpass stuffed animals, but for now I’m pretty stoked about this puppy.
Tag: Good Gifts
Surprising Good Gifts
On Sunday night, Amy and I hung out with a celebrity couple. Not huge celebrities, but these people are way cooler than we are. Except they are totally normal, and we have a ton of things in common.
Superficial things in common (Amy said both couples can be described as tall white guys with “ethnic” wives =).
But deep things in common too: growing up in ministry families, similar journeys to parenthood, jobs that have strange hours and difficult demands. The list goes on.
Someone said that two of the most powerful words in the English language are “me too.” We had “me too” moments again and again. At one point, during a pause in the conversation, we all kind of laughed about the similarities in our stories.
I thought it would be really fun and interesting to hang out with this couple and to ask them a million questions. Turns out they ministered to us in a beautiful and profound way.
Good gifts are all around us, all the time, I believe. The question is: are we paying attention enough to see them and to recognize them for what they are. Jesus said a lot, “Let those who have ears to hear, hear.” (Or eyes to see).
Do we have the eyes and ears to recognize good gifts when they come our way?
stephenboutrywords 