GIFTS...

 I have had such a full life abundantly overflowing with a plethora of amazing gifts.  My heart is filled with gratitude.

My father was the best gift-giver.  His first gift to me was my mother.  He was a young man of 19 when hemet my mother.  He swept her off her feet on a dance floor when she was barely 17.  They were married on her 18th birthday and 5 years later, together, they gave me the gift of life.

As I grew, he discovered one of my favorite gifts was anything sweet.  He gave me the gift of a piano, followed by 9 years of piano lessons.  He gave me the gift of dance lessons--also for 9 years.  He gave me the gift of his wisdom.  

    --Correcting me when I made mistakes.

--Praising me when I made good choices.

He gave me the gift of patience.  Waiting for me to fund the rught way, and nudging me along the path.

He gave me the gift of  unconditional love.  I never understood that, until I had children of my own!  I knew he loved me when, one day, I asked him, "Daddy, you have given me so much all my life==what can I give you in return?"  I can see him still, dressed in his white shirt, white pants, a white apron tied around his waist, stained with the juices of meat and food preparation, and a white envelope hat on his head decorated with the little "pickle" pin which was the symbol of his restaurant.  

He was sitting on one of the 4-legged stools at one of the long tables at the restaurant.  His simple, yet profound answer to my question was this, "The only thing I ask of you in return is that you will always remain as good as you are right now."

That simple response brought tears to my eyes.  I leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek and one of my tears rolled out of my eye and down his cheek.

I loved my dad dearly.  I can't say that I was always good--or that I always made good choices--but my dad's gift of forgiveness was always a given.

Writing about my earthly father gets me thinking about my Heavenly Father--the Father of my Spirit.  He has been the best bestower of the greatest gifts--and the list is long!    The first gift He gave me, like my dad, was the gift of my life.  And with that gift  came the gift of my parents.  I shall forever be grateful for them both.

My Father in Heaven gave me one brother and two sisters.  They have blessed my life in countless ways.  He also sent Angels to me, called "friends"--each in their own season--some still grace my life.

He gave me many talents--some I have already discovered, some I am still discovering, and  some I am yet to discover.

He gave me the gift(s) of my own family(s).  First He sent me Gerry Henderson, a Graduate Student at BYU, who swept this little Freshman of barely 18 off of my feet, just as my dad had done with my mom all those years ago.  We were married the following June.  Then came five beautiful children, each one a treasured gift.  Growing old together was not in the cards for us.  Gerry went to live with Heavenly Father  much too soon!  

Six months after Gerry's death, I met Dean Mickelson.  He was charming, a great talker.  We met on "The Love Boat!"  It was crazy--and this young man truly was an answer to a lonely widow's prayers. He truly was a gift from God.

My next gift was our son, Billy.  He, too was an answer to many prayers.

Heavenly Father gave to me the gift of music. He gave me fingers to play the piano and ears to hear the music, and a heart to feel it in my soul.  He gave me feet to dance to the music.  I heard the rhythm to keep the beat and a body to move with it.  I feel the music throughout my whole being.  He gave me a voice to sing through both my heart and soul.

These gifts  were only for a season.  I can no longer play the piano because my eyes are growing dim;  I can no longer dance because my body no longer moves the way it used to; my voice is no longer sweet and pure.  But I am grateful for the years I could do all these things.  Now, I have ears  to hear the music and I can close my eyes and visualize the past.

So many gifts --too numerous to list----my Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me!  So much to be grateful for.  These are certainly note-worthy  gifts in my life--but the greatest gift of all is the gift of a tiny baby, born in a stable long, long ago in the town of Bethlehem.  The Father gave us the gift of His Son.  And His name was called, Jesus Christ.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16)

The Father gifted The Son--The Son gifted to us Eternal Life.

So many gifts!  So much LOVE!

                                                Keep on Giving!

                                                Merry Christmas!