Thursday, November 3, 2016

Good gifts...


When our oldest daughter and her family recently sold their tiny little bungalow in the city and moved into a large fully restored farmhouse the desire for a puppy was rekindled in our two youngest granddaughters.  Now that they had a bigger house, they had more room for a new addition to their family, was our granddaughters' rationalization.  Since their old pug dog had died a few years back our seven year old granddaughter had frequently reminded her mama that "a kid needs a pet"!

Last Sunday evening, my daughter and her husband surprised the girls with a new goldendoodle puppy.  Unknown to the girls, their mama and daddy had been researching and planning this surprise gift for quite some time.  The girls were stunned when their daddy walked into the house with the puppy, at first wondering if it was real and for quite some time afterwards repeatedly asking if she was really theirs.

This experience with seeing my granddaughters longing for a puppy finally realized, reminded me of how God gives us the desires of our hearts.  Like our son-in-law and daughter, He doesn't always do it when or how we think He should.  Right now is always our preferred timing, but God knows that a good gift given at the wrong time can turn out to not be the best thing.  Being good parents, my daughter and son-in-law wanted my granddaughters to be old enough to take some responsibility in the care of the puppy. 

My daughter and son-in-law also spent time researching what type of dog they thought would be the best fit for their family and lifestyle.  Sometimes we think we know what God should give us, we think we know best.  But, because God is all-knowing, He knows far better than we do not only about the right timing for our answers to prayer, but exactly what the perfect answer is for us. Proverbs 10:22 says that God wants to give us blessing with no sorrow attached to it.  A gift that turns out to be more trouble than it's worth isn't really a blessing, is it?

In Matthew 7 Jesus says that our Father God is a good Father who wants to give us good gifts.  He says that if a son asked his earthly father for bread, no good earthly father would give him a stone, or if he asks for some fish, no good earthly father would give him a snake instead.  In other words, no good earthly father would intentionally give their child something disappointing, a stone, or something harmful, a poisonous snake.  Our perfect Heavenly Father is even better at parenting than we are.  When we bring to Him the desires of our heart we can get weary waiting for the answer.  But, we have to trust that He knows the perfect timing, and that when He does answer, it will be what is best for us.  He will only give us things that are beneficial to us, not things that are disappointing or harmful.  God is better than the best earthly parent.  He is a good Father Who wants to surprise us with good gifts.

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9 comments:

  1. What is it with every child wanting a puppy? And having such good reasons, too. Congratulations on the precious puppy addition. We have a new puppy in the family, too. My second son and his wife have two boy goldens and they just added a girl golden who's the half-sister to my golden, Sadie! Some mornings, she comes over and it's just a girls morning at our house! Thank you for a delightful reminder to wait in God's time for the right answer to our prayers!

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    1. This pup is so mild mannered and smart and already housebroken at 8 weeks old! ALMOST, makes me want one.

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  2. I'm so happy that granddaughters have such a wonderful puppy! And I love the way God plans surprises for us - things to meet our heart's desires - when we least expect it. My dear, little mother always called that 'God's happy surprises'!
    ~Adrienne~

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    1. God's happy surprises are abundant if we just have our eyes open to notice them!

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  3. No home is complete without a pet, or two, or three! {smiles} Your sweet granddaughter's look soo pleased to have such a sweet new puppy, he will be loved and adored for sure! A beautiful lesson you shared too... the Lord's timing in all things is always best, funny how I just shared about that on my blog a few minutes ago! Confirmation, I think... happy to meet you today!

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  4. Your granddaughters are precious with their new puppy! Your post made me tear up, Elizabeth. Thank you for such encouraging words. My heart needed them today. Have a blessed weekend, my friend. {{hugs}}

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    1. Anne, I am so blessed that these simple words encouraged you!

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  5. Such a beautiful take-a-way, Elizabeth! and why is it that some of us have such trouble accepting and feeling worthy of the good gifts that He gifts us? I pray we can all learn to better trust His goodness and be grateful for His multitude of blessings!

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