The Gift

This past Christmas, my husband and brother-in-law gave my sister and I the same gift:a 4 day trip with each other to a health spa. The fact that they had gotten together without us knowing (we live 1200 miles apart) and doing something so extraordinary was quite amazing in itself; as a matter of fact, it could have sufficed as the gift because it was so out of the ordinary for both of them to do something like that. Earlier in the year our mother passed away, and our husbands decided we needed time together to just, well, be together as sisters.

Needless to say, the experience, time, rest, relaxation, fellowship, and yes, even the exercising, was one that I will never forget. I was totally taken care of: for four days, I didn't do laundry, cook, grocery shop, carpool, wash dishes, clean bathrooms, make beds, walk dogs, run errands, etc etc etc. For four days, I felt like a princess!I didn't expect it, didn't ask for it, didn't even really feel like I deserved it, but I accepted the gift with tears of joy.

Choosing from a "menu" of sorts of services was half the fun as there were a multitude of facials, massages, personal training sessions, lectures, aerobic exercising, and more to pick from. It was a tough decision, but I managed to pick a handful of relaxing (as well as challenging) services that met my needs, one of which was an exfoliating body scrub. What?! I'll explain. My skin was basically scrubbed and cleaned until all of the dead skin cells were gone and nothing remained but pure, cleansed, soft and renewed skin. The process was done with grape seeds and grape skins and then warm water was used to wash away any of the impurities. I had never done anything like that before, and I thought I may as well take advantage of a total cleansing!

It was at that moment that I realized the real meaning behind taking advantage of this service that my husband's Christmas gift had to offer. Wasn't the real gift given to me over 2,000 years ago? The grapes; the cleansing of "dead skin" to give me pure and renewed "skin"; the washing away of impurities; the "service" that was given by a King who came to serve: all of this was the purpose of the precious gift of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to cleanse me of my sins and renew me in His image and give me eternal life. All I had to do was to take advantage of His offer and I would become a "princess" in His Kingdom; a child of the King. It is a gift that: I didn't expect, didn't ask for, didn't even really feel like I deserved, but, praise God, I accepted the gift with tears of joy! What a difference this gift has made in my life... what a joy to receive new life!

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

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Contributed by Barbara Lundy
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