Legos and The Best Giver of Gifts

Hello again, dear readers.

As I sat in church on Sunday listening to the speaker that was addressing our congregation, I heard him mention a scripture that had been lodged in my mind for most of the week.  Do you remember how God likes to work with me?  I touched on it a bit in my post about Little Big Things.  

A phrase.  A word.  A verse.  

It varies, but it's all for the same purpose as it floats around in my mind over the course of a few days, weeks, or a month.  It makes itself known just enough that I start to notice it everywhere and in everything. 

And then the contemplating begins.

Over the course of the week, a verse was percolating in my mind which can be found in the book of Luke 11:11-13:

 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

  

I would summarize that scripture, at least in the way that I was lead to think about it, as a reminder that our Father in Heaven is anxious to bless us, to be a giver of gifts.  The best gifts. But do we do those things that allow us to receive them?  Do we keep our end of the bargain? And do we remember that it often comes down to timing and waiting?

I had an opportunity to think about that in a TRULY unfortunate circumstance involving two of my children this past week.  It involved Lego's and a hard lesson and perspective into how God must feel as He is parenting us.

Lego Castle

This has been THE most wanted gift of the year; THE only thing our son has really wanted without changing his mind one million and one times.  This is THE Lego castle of all Lego castle sets.  I was thrilled to find it with a significant price drop at Target and quickly bought it and stashed it well hidden in the back of the car.  Thanks to a ridiculous schedule lately (and some admitted procrastination), it sat there in the back of my car for a few days too long.   

RECAP OF THE PAST:  All kids (and us big folks too) struggle with waiting.  It's hard. It's really no fun and it takes practice, self-control and a whole lot of it.  It's especially hard for our son.  He even acknowledged a few weeks ago, out of the blue, that he was going to have to try harder this year at not ruining surprises and not go looking for Christmas gifts.

This guy has ruined many Christmas surprises for himself over the last few years. He has done just about everything to find his gifts and his sisters' and then would proceed to tell them what they were getting--a bit of a power play, in my opinion!  He even ate all of his advent calendar in the first week of December one year...and then moved on to his sister's and then his other sister's.  Let's just say that this kid struggles in huge ways with the concept of WAITING.

Now, it would be one thing if it just affected him, but it negatively affected his siblings and also took away our joy in giving the gifts since they were no longer a surprise to anyone.  We're talking a huge bummer for all involved thanks to his poor choices.

BACK TO THE PRESENT (no pun intended):  As soon as our "surprise-killer" made his announcement that he would try harder to control the urge to go present seeking this year, a plan raced into action.  We had to make the consequences significant enough to keep him from taking the house apart and not ruin Christmas for everyone.  A consequence was quickly attached:

"If you go looking too soon for your gifts, you will lose what you find."

Let's suffice it to say that I came around the corner of the yard the next day (again, remember, I had left the Lego gift--plus a few belonging to little sister--hidden in the back of my car) only to find son and little sister trying to duck ever so suspiciously under the car. Gifts had been seen.  Guilt was in the air.

BUSTED.  

When upon examination, my son did his very best legal maneuvering by stating that he had infact NOT been the one in the back of the car, but it had been his sister whom he had convinced to go and check for gifts.  He reasoned that since he hadn't technically been the one to look, but had guided his sister in doing so for him, he had not broken the "no look" rule and therefore was still entitled to receiving his gift.  (I'm seeing the legal profession or jail time in this kid's future.  Or both.)

Sadly for all of us, those gifts went back to the store for the both of them.  And sadly, the hell that I've had to pay as a result of following through on a consequence has made for a very unpleasant couple of weeks around here.  We'll skip the ugly details for joy's sake.

Let's return to the scripture that I introduced at the start. I think about how there are very real gifts that God would want to give us--things that we would want for ourselves.  If I, an imperfect parent, want so badly to be able to give gifts to my children, but they have done things that don't allow me to do so, oh how very sad it is.  It makes me reflect on how our Father must feel when we don't keep our commitments.  I just know that He is waiting and sometimes making us wait, as it often seems, to bestow upon us some hoped for joy, some answer to a pray.  There is a plan and a rhyme and reason to how and when those gifts come.

We have to do three things:  wait, trust, and keep our end of the bargain.

We read in scripture that "men are that they might have joy."  If you look in the footnotes, you'll find that joy is described there as the potential to become like our Heavenly Father.  Learning to sometimes say "no" or "not yet," to enforce consequences, to give or sadly withhold gifts are all parts of heavenly parenting that we learn and practice here in this life.  We are experiencing what it means to become like our Father while simultaneously learning about our Father.

This is the purpose of life afterall, to have joy-- to come to know God and become like Him one day .  What I know so far is that He loves a good surprise even more than you and I do.  He's the best gift-giver.  Just you wait and see. 

~Arianna