The Perfect Gift

 

 

A couple of days ago, I sat down with four of my daycare children and gave them the gifts I had so carefully purchased for them. I knew I had found each of them the perfect gift..they would love them, I was sure!

For three of them, it seemed I did. One little girl said "It's just what I've always wanted!" Her older sister seemed in awe..."How did you know I LOVE horses?", while the youngest girl, not even two, clutched her new doll to her chest and her whole face lit up..."Mine!"
It made me happy inside to see their excitement and smiles.
Then came the fourth child. He tore open his gift, the one so thoughtfully wrapped with him in mind...but instead of a smile he angrily tossed the gift aside and said with a whine..."Awww...it's not lego starwars!" He crossed his arms and a scowl marked his young eight year old face.  He sat there pouting and I sat there, jaw dropped!

I have to admit it made me angry. To think the gift I had so carefully chosen for him, thinking he would love it; that it would be so carelessly tossed aside like a piece of garbage..that hurt!

It reminded me of something else. Christmas is but a few days away and if it were not for Jesus, there would be no Christmas. He  is the "reason for the season"
God sent his only son to be born in Bethlehem.
The Perfect Gift, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger...in what would normally be used for the animals feeding trough.  Humble beginings for a King.
God knew that one day the baby Jesus would grow to be a man, and that one day that man would give his life for us all. He would die a brutal death on a cross, so that we; each and every one would in turn have eternal life...His gift to us...His perfect gift if we accept it.

Yet so often we go through the Christmas season losing our focus. We are busy and stressed, trying to get it all done, house cleaned and decorated, baking done, meal planned while we try to find that perfect gift for our loved ones. We can so easily forget the reason that we even have Christmas and it's Jesus.

What will we do this Christmas with the most Perfect Gift?  It's up to us.
We can cast it aside; rejected or we can embrace Him...God's perfect gift to us..Jesus!  The reason for the season.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

His timing!

 

 

 

It has been a while since I wrote anything on the blog so I figured it was time for an update!

Initially when we first knew we would be going to Honduras, our plan was to move in February. We had been told though by more than one source that it was unrealistic; that it takes most missionaries up to eighteen months to raise their support to the place were they could purchase their plane tickets to go.
I guess in hind site maybe we were  too confident it couldn't possible take that long! That seemed like forever!  A lot of it was that we just wanted to go, get to Tegucigalpa and get to work on all that He has for us to do there. We are still pumped to go and want to get there as soon as possible...but maybe now are a little more realistic about how long it really does take.

First of all our funds are not where they need to be for us to go in February.  The other thing is, it would mean pulling the kids from their schools here in Canada and risk losing their school year. Then we would be immersing them right away in a new country, new school, new house, totally different culture, new everything! Overwhelming to say the least.  Not too mention the emotions they will be dealing with. I know kids are resilient and our kids have had several moves in their lives and they always seem to adjust well..but this is going to be a huge change; the biggest one yet in their lives. The change with the most goodbyes.
That being said; we are planning an exploratory trip to Honduras at the end of February. Dale was able to find cheap tickets for us to go. The kids will see the Schools of Hope that we will be working in, mingle with the children there as well as visit potential schools that they themselves could be attending,  tour the city and hopefully take them to Valle de Angeles, the market and maybe even the mall.  They will have a few days to experience life in Honduras! Now, hopefully they don't change their mind about going..lol



Now the plan is to go sometime later on in the summer, Lord willing if the funds are there for us to actually go then! I believe that we will be there when HE wants us to be, as it is His timing, not ours even if we want to rush ahead of things. There are reasons we are still here, and not headed there in February. He sees the big picture. His timing is ALWAYS perfect and ALWAYS on time!

All that being said, we are looking for people who could partner with us monthly. The fact is that we do have a budget to raise in order to live there and do the work that is waiting for us. If the budget isn't raised, we can't go.
If anyone would consider partnering with us monthly, your support would be greatly appreciated and will help us bring Jesus to these kids!

Thank you and God Bless!

Here is a link if you wish to donate to Ruttans in Honduras! Hopefully this link will take you to our page

http://paoc.org/donate?mID=488