Extravagant Gifts — Carol McLeod Ministries | Find Joy in Your Everyday Life
Welcome to December!
The month of decorations … baking … sending … buying … wrapping … and giving.
It’s quite the month, isn’t it?!
I am a gift-giver by nature. I love giving gifts year round for major holidays and for minor events.
I love celebrating an ordinary day by giving someone a book … or a great bracelet … or a new mug.
And don’t even get me started on how many Yankee Candles I have bought over the years!!
I honestly used to buy gifts for my children during “March Madness” … for the Fourth of July … and on the days when they were caught in the tussle of life.
So, you can imagine that at Christmastime, I am in unprecedented gift-giving mode!
My list is long and generous … my budget is small … while my heart is lavish.
As I settled down to ponder and pray over my lengthy list this year, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about His plan for my Christmas list.
Don’t you just love it when the Holy Spirit finally gets your attention?! You are assured, at that moment, that the appointment is divine and that the outcome is going to be spectacular!
This is what I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Carol … I have some gifts that I would love to give you this year. They are gifts that never wear out … that are very expensive … and that will change your life forever.”
I thought to myself, “Well … that sounds fabulous! I’m in! Who wouldn’t want those kinds of gifts?!”
And then, as I opened my Bible and turned on worship music so that I could make the most of this time with the Holy Spirit, I felt Him whisper into my heart again …
“Carol … I will provide the gifts but you must open them. I, as the gift-giving member of the Trinity, am generous and lavish in the bestowing of miraculous gifts, but you must receive each one and then use it.”
I am not sure why … but my mind instantly went to the gift of a bread-maker that I had been given decades ago but had only used one time. It was an expensive gift … one that I certainly never would have bought for myself!
The giver of the bread-maker honestly thought that my large family would love the loaves of home made bread that it would produce … but I never used it after that first trial run.
It sat on my pantry shelf for years and then was sold at one of my famous garage sales.
As I pondered the top-of-the-line bread maker … the Holy Spirit … and my love of giving gifts … I realized that non-use of a personal gift was a serious mis-use of what the Holy Spirit desires to do in any of our lives.
In case you didn’t catch that … let me say it again because it is good stuff!
The non-use of a personal gift is a serious mis-use of what the Holy Spirit desires to do in any of our lives!
And so, I humbly responded to the gracious Holy Spirit and finally said, “Whatever you give me, I will use. Whatever you choose for me, I will be delighted with. I will not ignore your gifts to me.”
As I continued to read my Bible that early December morning, I began to make a list of all of the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to me and yet at times I have ignored.
Joy
Peace
Kindness
Hope
Goodness
Patience
Self-Control
Love
Gentleness
Compassion
Wisdom
Perhaps you can think of some other magnificent gifts that are yours because of the generosity of the Holy Spirit, but those were the gifts that came to my mind this wonderful and final month of 2020.
When you receive a gift from someone, it is only polite to write a thank you note to the giver of the gift! I hope that your mama taught you that polite lesson when you were just a wee person!
Here is the thank you note that I wrote to the thoughtful and extravagant Holy Spirit as I considered all of the gifts that I have been given:
Dearest Holy Spirit,
Thank you so much for the very generous gifts that you have selected especially for me! How I love unwrapping each gift and thinking about all of the ways that I will be able to put each one to use in my life!
What an honor that when you considered the gift of joy … you knew that it would be a perfect fit for me! I will wear it in all types of weather and will be so grateful for its strength!
I am humbled that your generosity included peace and hope because you know of my tendency to hold onto the past and to be worried and bothered about so many things! I definitely will put peace and hope to good use in my life! Already, I can feel the clouds of anxiety lifting and the sweet release of possibility in my life.
And how did you know that I was in desperate search of wisdom?! And … let me just say … the fact that you extracted it from the resource of the Father means the world to me! I promise that I will share His wisdom with everyone that I meet.
Holy Spirit, may I just say that the gift I may use the most often of all is the gift of kindness?! What a practical yet lovely gift! How wonderful that You would trust me with this gift! I promise to utilize kindness when others are cruel and spiteful. My world will be a better place because of the kindness that you have sweetly given to me.
I can’t forget to thank you for gentleness, compassion and goodness! My! I hadn’t realized how much I was missing until I began to use these three gifts in dealing with my family members. I know that my family will be happier and healthier simply because of your attentive donation! The entire McLeod family would like to thank you for gentleness, compassion and goodness … we have found that we simply are unable now to live without those triplets of Godly behavior.
I will admit that self-control was probably the most difficult gift of all to receive from you but now that I have used it … it’s the most beneficial of all of the gifts. I have used the self-control that you gave me in so many different areas of my life! It has come in handy in the words that I have spoken … in the money that I have spent … in my exercise routine … and in my eating habits. It’s been life-changing for me! Thank you for knowing that I needed that particular gift!
And the love that You have given to me to share with others is just the sweetest of all the gifts. I am honored to lovethe world in Jesus’ Name. It is my resolute decision to love everybody all the time … and I couldn’t do it without your foresight and spirit of giving!
So, thank You, Holy Spirit! Thank You for the gifts you have given to me! Thank You that each one is a perfect fit … specifically chosen for me … and will never wear out!
You are the very best Gift-Giver of all time! And I also know that Jesus paid for these gifts … so tell Him, “Thank You!” for me, would you?
Oh … and while You are at it … tell my heavenly Father that His daughter’s heart is so full and so grateful. I love celebrating Christmas with You all!
All my love,
Carol
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!
