{"id":991,"date":"2017-04-21T13:41:07","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T18:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/?p=991"},"modified":"2017-04-21T13:41:07","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T18:41:07","slug":"accepting-his-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/accepting-his-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Accepting His Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shopping at the grocery store when you are hunger is never a good idea. And especially as a hungry pregnant momma. Spotting the discounted donuts\u00a0I could not resist this time. Placing them in the cart I was eager to get home and eat one. I was also looking forward to sharing this special treat with my daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Something she has never tasted before&#8230;a blueberry glazed donut. Mmmm! I pictured in my mind how she would respond. How she would jump up and down with excitement and enjoyment. How this would be something to make this day extra special.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arriving home, we unloaded the grocery bags, fixed lunch and sat down to eat. After she had finished her yogurt I pulled out the treats. Breaking the donut in half I gave it to her. She smiled but upon bringing it to her mouth the atmosphere changed rapidly. She dropped it and declared, &#8220;NO!&#8221; Turning her head to the side I asked, &#8220;you don&#8217;t even want to try this special treat mommy bought?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>No words escaped her lips yet I could see the answer was a definite\u00a0no. I was a little disappointed. Not what I pictured at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I shared this story with my husband later we laughed. How often do we do the same thing to God? How often has He put something in front of us that He wants us to enjoy and we turn our heads in disgust?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We view the donut before us as yucky. As something, we don&#8217;t like before even trying it. Before even accepting that God knows what is best for us. (No, I am not saying the donut was the &#8220;best thing&#8221; for my daughter.) What I am saying is that God has things for us to enjoy. Every day God wants to see us smile, laugh. He wants us to enjoy His presence, His gifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s like the rain outside today. At first thought, I think it is yucky. It makes me feel down, draggy. However, when I took a second glance out the window I saw something completely different. The white flowers on the Dogwood tree are brilliantly\u00a0beautiful against the damp leaves and grey skies. The flowers are shining gloriously in the darkened day. The flowers that I rarely see on a sunny day are leaving a precious impression on my heart today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Flowers, God&#8217;s creation. A gift for me to enjoy today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What does God want you to see, to enjoy today? Are there any &#8220;sweet treats&#8221; before you? Are you accepting or turning your head, wrinkling your nose?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>God cares about you so much He wants to bring a smile to your face.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Isaiah 55:8-9\u00a0<span id=\"en-NLT-18725\" class=\"text Isa-55-8\">\u201cMy thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,\u201d says the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span>.<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"text Isa-55-8\">\u201cAnd my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NLT-18726\" class=\"text Isa-55-9\">For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Isa-55-9\">so my ways are higher than your ways\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Isa-55-9\"><em>and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Psalm 18:30\u00a0<span id=\"en-ESV-14149\" class=\"text Ps-18-30\">This God\u2014his way is perfect;<span style=\"font-size: 10px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-18-30\">the word of the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> proves true;\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-18-30\"><em>he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.<\/em> ESV<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Psalm 23:1-3\u00a0<span class=\"text Ps-23-1\">The <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> is my shepherd, I lack nothing.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span id=\"en-NIV-14238\" class=\"text Ps-23-2\">He makes me lie down in green pastures,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text Ps-23-2\">he leads me beside quiet waters,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span id=\"en-NIV-14239\" class=\"text Ps-23-3\">he refreshes my soul.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text Ps-23-3\">He guides me along the right paths\u00a0<\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-23-3\"><em>for his name\u2019s sake.<\/em> NIV<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Luke 12:7\u00a0<em>And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don\u2019t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.<\/em> NLT<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shopping at the grocery store when you are hunger is never a good idea. And especially as a hungry pregnant momma. Spotting the discounted donuts\u00a0I could not resist this time. Placing them in the cart I was eager to get home and eat one. I was also looking forward to sharing this special treat with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[9,6,7],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/shutterstock_385517032.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NWg5-fZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":994,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}