The Gift

It’s funny how different we all are, but at the same time how much we're all alike.
Do you have that one thing, or maybe even more, that you do the same every day?
I know I do. It’s funny watching friends, family or co-workers doing the same things each day. I see people who have a fresh cup of coffee that they have stopped at the same convenience store every day to get that coffee. "Wouldn't it be easier and faster to just make a pot at home before you leave?"
One of the things I do on the days I work, I make an egg sandwich to take to work with me. If I don't the day just seems out of place.
Maybe doing some of the same things every day gives us some since of control over our day? In reality, none of us really know what is going to happen to or around us on any given day.
I've had the habit of reading my Bible every night before I go to bed for years.
There have been days that I'm so sleepy that I can't keep my eyes open, still I pick it up and open it to where ever I'm reading at the time. Sounds crazy what could anyone possibly get out of reading half asleep?
It just makes my day better by doing that, just like the person who stops to get the cup of coffee or hot-chocolate.
My egg sandwich is always the same, not the same with what I'm reading each day.
About 4 weeks ago that wasn't the case.
I just kept reading the same story over and over in my Bible. Why? I wasn't sure, I just kept going back to the same place, 2Kings 10-15 were Elisha inherits Elijah's mantel.
What I was reading wasn't very long at all, only 8 sentences. Coffee, hot-chocolate and egg sandwiches is one thing but to read the very same thing over and over every day.
I remember thinking, "This is weird" and it's me doing it!
About a week into doing this one of my friends, Jennifer, called me and said she had something for me. I was so excited! She said she was cleaning out her office and found this "thing" and felt like she was supposed to give it to me.
I couldn't wait to get it, I wanted it right away, but I would have to wait.
We don't get to see each other that much because of our busy lives, it's actuality a treat to even get to talk to each other.
For two weeks there wasn't a day that didn't go by that I didn't think of this "gift" Jennifer was giving me. I'm like a little kid when it comes to gifs. A few weeks later I attended her daughter’s school play, Afterword’s we went back to their house. We were there about 10 minutes before it came to my mind, "Do you have my gift?” I said like some 5 year old.
She kind of laughed and said, "Oh, yeah"
I was so excited; I couldn't wait to see what she was giving me. I could hear her saying from a distance, "it's not a big deal". She didn't want me to have my hopes up for some great big present. It didn't matter to me that this was something she had for years and was "handing it down". It's just fun, it doesn't matter where it came from.
She walked into the room with her "gift" and the 4 weeks of reading the same thing over and over came to life before my eyes. What was it?
It was her prayer mantel.
I told her the story about how I'd been reading the same thing over and over for weeks, she was thankful that I shared that with her.
What was my message in all this? For years I've helped others with their ministries, walked beside them and held them up in prayer.
For the past few years I've been working on my own ministry and I felt like the Lord was telling me with this "gift" I was going in the right direction.
There is no special power in this mantel; the power comes from knowing God is directing our paths. I sometimes think these "things" we do every day is what connects today to tomorrow.
What a wonderful "Gift". Jennifer says the best gift in this entire story was being able to give me the mantel. I think the best gift in this story is having a friend who prays for you........Thanks Jen!