Show and Tell Tuesday: Best Gift Received

I’m linking up for Andrea’s final Show and Tell Tuesday for the year! How is this year almost over??!?

Today’s prompt is “The Best Gift Received”.

Honestly…I’m a HUGE gift person. My love language is gifts all the way. I love giving and receiving…anything.

My family has never been huge into material items, and for this I am thankful. Sometimes on my birthday or Christmas day, I’m not as thankful as I should be, because we don’t have the budget to buy the things that I would like. But when I reflect back on it, I’m thankful that I grew up in a family that appreciated family time and giving gifts more than getting everything on the list and wrapping it perfectly. And besides…we lived overseas, and I would get Frosted Flakes for Christmas. I kid you not. That was the highlight of my morning, unwrapping that box of sweet cereal that I didn’t have to share with anyone! Haha!

I just can’t think of one gift that I have loved more than the others, so I’m going to go with the top 5 gifts I have ever received…

5. Creation Festival Tickets

When I was a freshman in high school, I was all about the Christian music scene. I listened to the radio all the time, and I always wanted the newest CDs. I was thrilled when I found out that Creation festival was going to be fairly nearby, and that I had some friends that were also interested in going and wanted to camp out! Imagine my great joy when I opened my birthday present and found CREATION TICKETS. I was not expecting something so extravagant and I will never forget the utter surprise that I felt!!! I was THRILLED.

Imagine my disappoint when I woke up the week before the Creation festival to pouring rain and found out that it was cancelled! I cried buckets of tears. You see…not only was this the best gift ever, but it was also the only opportunity I had to go before my family headed back to the mission field.

Thankfully, the tickets covered the festival the next summer and my family happened to be back in the States during that time. I was able to go!!! I think this gift meant so much to me because it was planned, prepared and arranged just for me. And I did have a blast! And I met by best friend there for the first time.

This is the only cheesy picture I can find of me at the Creation Festival when I finally got to go.

4. My camera

This year I remarked that I really needed a new camera. My iphone just wasn’t cutting it. The budget is tight, and I figured it would take a little bit of scrounging in order for me to get my camera. So imagine my shock and utter delight when Theo bought me a camera right on the spot in Best Buy on Black Friday. It was an early Christmas gift, and I am incredibly grateful that Theo listened to my wants and decided to go ahead and get me something that was rather pricey, but incredibly useful.

3. My engagement ring

Um, yes, I do consider this a gift. Because Theo bought it for me and gave it to me. I also love this one because it has so much more significance that just any ‘ol gift. This is a gift that I have worn for the past four years, and plan to wear for the rest of my life.

Theo picked it out all by himself, and I always tell him that I would have picked that exact one if I went with him to pick it. Our engagement was a total surprise to me, as Theo told me he wasn’t going to propose. I so badly wanted him to, but he said he wasn’t…so I figured he wouldn’t!

But he did! And it was PERFECTION.

2. My family, husband and children

It is not lost on me that my family is a gift. I grew up in a family that is a gift from God. I married into a family that is equally a gift from God. I married a husband who is an incredible gift from God, and somewhere along the lines God saw fit to give us our children. Being a foster Mom has helped me to realize what a gift it is to be chosen as a parent for these specific children. On a given day, I might be a parent to different children, but God chose us to be their parents, even if it is only a temporary situation. Now that is a gift!

Approximately 12 hours after I gave birth…not flattering, but the whole family is on one picture!

1. My salvation

It may sound cheesy, but I can’t make a list of the gifts I have been given without mentioning this one. To often, I focus on all the material things I have been given, when in reality NONE of that matters when I have Christ and his salvation.