A Priceless Gift

One of my favorite christmas songs is The Little Drummer Boy.

I love the way the melody is carried through out the song, and whether you hum it or sing it out loud, it doesn’t matter, you can still feel the very essence of that melody beating through you with every parumppapumpom.

But the other day, I had an “aha” moment that made me think not of the melody of this song, but the words.

In the song, the little drummer boy is saying how he has nothing to give this new born King. He has no gifts to bring like everyone else. He is poor, money is not at his disposal. What on earth could he ever offer a king?

But then he looks at what is in his own hands. His drum. And as he begins to play, he not only brings a gift to the newborn king, but he gives a gift to the world around him. Because of his drum beat, the animals begin to dance, Mary nods her head in time with his beat, and that newborn king smiles at him.

The other day, I was trying to write a piece for an online magazine. They were looking for writers who could write articles for their readers. Only a few writers would be chosen and given the opportunity to be a part of their magazine team.

As I sat down to write, my mind went completely blank. Who was I kidding, a small voice asked. Surely more experienced writers would submit pieces more polished and articluate than mine. I wasn’t even a published writer. I had no accolades or awards attributed to my name. I had nothing to offer.

I was sharing my experience with some fellow writers, and in just a few words they led me to my “aha” moment. I was gently, but firmly reminded that as a writer, I didn’t write for others or to pit my writing skills against other writers. I was reminded that first I had to write simply as an expression of what was already within me. I didn’t have to go looking for it as if it was lost, I just had to release what was already there.

Like that little drummer boy, I had to come to the realization that I could never give what others gave, I could only ever use what was within me and offer it as the true gift it really is.

That little drummer boy didn’t come to see himself as the best drummer, he only saw that he had to give the best he had.

Today I will sit down and write that article and I will submit it not in the hopes that it wins me a moment of recognition or a even a spot on that magazine team. But I will first write in recognition of my King and the gift He has placed within me, and I will offer it not so that I can be the best, but so that my best is given.

What a priceless gift indeed.

I saw God

I almost didn’t write this post today.

I had another topic all picked out to write about, but the minute I sat down to write it, a voice whispered something totally different to me. I wrestled with it for a little while, but no matter how I tried, the words I needed would not come.

And so today instead of my intended message, I offer to you what has been placed upon my heart in the hopes that it finds it’s intended target.

I saw God the other day.

He wasn’t wearing a white robe as He is depicted in pictures. He wasn’t a booming voice as He is portrayed in movies. No flash of lightening nor rolls of thunder proceeded His entrance. I didn’t hear Him as a whisper in the wind or as a voice in the night.

And yet I saw Him just the same.

Peeking into Mama Bird’s nest the other morning, I saw that one of her eggs had hatched. What had once just been an egg was now a hairless, pink, limp, helpless little creature. Too weak to even cry out, it’s small beak just opened and closed soundlessly.

There was nothing outwardly beautiful about this tiny being, in fact some would dare to call it ugly and turn away. But as I continued to stare at it, I knew I was seeing something more precious than anything I had ever seen.

Later I watched as Mama Bird tenderly cared for her small baby. Each time she heard its soundless cries, she carefully placed food in it’s waiting beak. When she felt his trembling body, she snuggled down in the nest with it and warmed it using her own body heat. And as darkness approached and her little one slept, she kept a diligent watch.

Thats when I saw Him.

Like that tiny, helpless, hairless, not so beautiful baby bird, I too had someone who tenderly loved and cared for me.

Inspite of my own “ugliness”, ugly attitudes and mindsets, ugly thoughts and deeds, He still saw the beauty He placed in me.

Where I was weak and helpless, He was my strength. When I can’t find the words to pray, He knows what I need and answers my every prayer. Even the silent ones.

And I never have to worry, because He is always covering me in His protection, shielding me from dangers seen and unseen.

And just as He watches over this Mama Bird and her lttle one, I know too that there is never a time I am not in His care.

I saw Him in that nest with those birds, I saw Him standing with me as I looked on at them, and I felt in in the stirring of my heart.

And this morning when I looked in Mama’s nest to check on her baby, I didn’t see an ugly duckling (or ugly birdie).

I saw Love.