The Last Gift - and 21!

God has truly blessed me.

Today, I was overcome with thankfulness for the men God has placed in my life. In the past 6 months, God has brought several men to me who have stepped up and taken the role of a father in my life. They each play a specific role that my dad played - one asks me about my car every time he sees me, another is like a grandfather who gives me a hug and kiss each week, another jokes around with me and gives me a hard time every Sunday, and one reminds me of my dad in so many ways-he is sarcastic with me, yet can also be serious, just like my dad. I am so thankful. God has provided - despite the hardship. I guess I was overcome with thankfulness, because I saw some of these men step up this week. Yesterday was my 21st birthday! Sunday evening, I was able to spend 2 hours with one of these fatherly figures. I needed that; I was feeling sad and missing my dad. Just being at this house brought comfort. Yesterday, on my birthday, one of these men called my cell phone and sang happy birthday to me. I had received many birthday wishes, but I was desiring to hear it from someone my dad's age....and it came. Just what I needed! And, lastly, today I checked my mailbox to find a card from another fatherly figure! The fact that he and his wife both wrote a personal note inside (and I also found a check!) made my day! I'm not sure I could have better men in my life to help play the role that my dad played.

Despite the wonderful men who have taken on extra responsibility for me, I still do miss my dad. Nobody's ever going to replace him - and I know that these men understand that. But I still wish that Dad could have been here on my birthday. My 21st. A big one. The one that is supposed to push you out of childhood and into adulthood - or something like that. It was a pretty good day, but I sure did wish my dad could have been here with me.

(Throwing up the 2-1 with my piano...my dad's last gift to me)

The day of my dad's heart attack, I bought a piano! Or rather..my dad bought a piano for me. That Sunday, the piano was delivered and I was enjoying it to pieces! My dad was so determined to get this piano the week before, that we were actually arguing over it. He was upset that I was e-mailing the seller rather than calling him on the phone about when to deliver it. Finally, I just gave the number to my dad and had his contact the seller. Dad did everything possible to get this piano as soon as he could. Maybe he knew he didn't have much time left?? Well, anyway, the piano was delivered the same day he had a heart attack and went to the hospital. I was supposed to pay for half of the piano, but Dad ended up paying for the whole thing. I consider it my last gift from him. And...since it came just 7 months before my 21st, yesterday, I considered my piano to be my 21st birthday gift from my dad. I love my piano - love sitting down to just play and let my mind not have to think for awhile. It's one of my favorite gifts....and it could be because it was my dad's last gift to me. It is so precious to me and I wish my dad was here to see how much I play it.

My birthday was bittersweet. Growing up. Missing my dad. Yet being so blessed by how God has provided. God is good all the time. He works in mysterious ways. I can never thank the father figures in my life enough; they have provided so much love and security and protection, even though they truly didn't have to. My dad picked some great men to develop friendships with-men who would go to unneccesary lengths just to love their friend's daughter because they knew she was her daddy's girl. I am forever in debt.

Stress

Stress. A word everyone hates. I got to thinking this week....and I realized that we, as humans, like to stress over alot of really dumb things. And it irked me, because there are so many more important things in this world that should be our priority.

This past week....either at school, my house, church, or anywhere else I was, I heard people say they were stressed over the following things:

• homework


• all the leaves that needed raked


• work/job


• all the meetings they had


• all the things they had to get done while they're at work


• cleaning the house/room


• their commute to work/school


• not exercising - but needing to


• health issues


• registering for classes/finishing school on time


• finances


• getting a Halloween costume (either for themself or their kids)


• how tired they are


• how they just couldn't find time to go to Walmart but needed to

And while this list is not the full list...it does give an idea of the things people are worried about these days. Take a look at the list -- ultimately, when it comes down to it -- who is the main "character" in each of those? The speaker. The speaker is the one who is receiving - it's all about "me" -- "I am exhausted", "I need to finsh school in 4 years!", "I have so much work to do to get a good grade", "I don't have enough money." Can we be any more "me"-centered?

Have you ever thought about the children in this world who sleep in the streets each night because they don't have a mom or dad who love them, or the scared little 12 year old girl who was sold into prostitution, or the teenage mother who is trying to keep her baby alive by digging through garbage dumps? Or what about the soldier in the Middle East, working 12 hour days, who has to live constantly on his toes, waiting for the next bomb? Or the families of this soldier who live each day at home, waiting for the phone to ring...hoping that it's their soldier and not someone bearing bad news? Or what about that family who has a loved one in the hospital who is in grave condition-who sits in the waiting room days on end, tensing up anytime the doctor comes to the waiting room? What do you think these people stress about?

What if we took our focus off ourselves for once and took some time to help these people. To reach out. To go beyond ourselves. What if the sentences I heard were "I'm stressed that I can't help more orphans."? No - I don't think we should stress about it -- I believe God has called to live a life free of stress....to not give in to anxiety. But, I think the things we stress about show where we place our priorities. I think it's time for a shift. I'm tired of hearing people stress about the stupid things in life-there are things that we do have to get through and may cause stress, but really....is that why we're here?

Are we here for ourselves? Did God put you on this Earth to worry about how much stuff you have to do this week?

Take a breather.

Be still and Know.

God's got it all under control; leave it in His hands.

Just serve Him.

(and by the way -- I'm talking to myself here too; I have just as much learning to do!)