Gift Wrapping

I was thinking about this early this morning when I woke up. I was watching a TV program and a segment in the movie was in a children's hospital. There were gifts being distributed to all of the children. The cameras narrowed in on this little boy who had just received a very small package poorly wrapped in wrinkled, worn gift wrapping. After looking at the packages that the other kids received (wrappings of bright greens and reds) he decided that he didn't want his package, but instead, he longed to have the bigger, seemlingly nicer gifts that some of the others were getting.
Nurses around him encouraged him to open his present. With hesitation, he did so and was quite surprised to find something he had longed for, for so long - an autographed baseball from his all-time favorite player! He looked up to one of the nurses and yelled "It's better than I thought it was going to be!!"

That got me thinking about something... how often have we 'judged' others for their outward appearance? And what if God judged us by our outward appearance? Well - thank God He wasn't judging me first thing this morning - - - YIKES! Life for me, before makeup and hairspray is not a pretty sight!

Honestly, though, how often have we been guilty of this very thing? I know I have been! Admittedly, I have judged from a distance before. I have met someone and have automatically formed an opinion about them right from the start. However, I will tell you that MANY times these have proved to be some of the greatest people I have ever met! I know that my lesson learned from these situations is this: "Some of the greatest gifts come poorly wrapped in the smallest packages." I believe these situations happened to me to teach me about Christ's love for us and his pure grace! It is because of Christ's unconditional love for us that we can learn to love others unconditionally and to extend His mercy and grace to all of His children - apart from their wrapping.

Just for fun!

I got this oldy, but goody email the other day and wanted to share with you... I especially like # 18 :)

Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity.

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds."
7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."
8. Don't use any punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

Have a blessed day!