Tis the Reason for the Season

As church was wrapping up on Sunday the pastor gave a quick reminder about an outreach program that NMC was participating in. They had set up a Christmas tree in the entryway with lots of little angels waiting to be picked up. These little angels gave the name and age of a little boy or girl and listed 1 "wish" and 1 "need."

As this reminder was given, I felt God instantly put this on me as something He wanted us to do. As soon as church let out I went and picked my little angel. Her name is Hillary and she is 4. Her wish was to get a bike and her need was to get a Dora doll. Simple enough? We signed up and made Hillary our Angel.

As we made our way to grab some lunch I read through all the paperwork that we had been given. We also needed to get one new outfit, a pair of shoes along with a few toys she might like. Oops! I didn't realize that when I signed up...but still no biggie! We ran into Target and picked up some adorable new shoes, a cute outfit to match, a Dora doll, a Dora cell phone and a Dora ball. $70 later we were done and on our way home. (Sure..I was thinking that was a bit more than I thought we would be spending. I really thought we were just buying her a toy. Kinda like a toy drive type of deal? But no biggie...at least we were done shopping for her.)

All week long I have had this nagging thought in the back of my head...I kept thinking about how she listed her wish as getting a bike. I knew bikes for that age were at least fifty bucks. (To be honest, I really didn't want to spend anymore. I knew we still had family to shop for and we are trying to save a little extra cash for our trip.) I guess I knew all along that the bike was in God's plan...it just wasn't in my plan or my checkbook's plan. I admit it. I was being cheap and God was stretching me further than I was willing to comfortably go.

Long story short. Earlier in the week I had shopped bikes on Walmart.com and found a super cute Barbie bike for $55. (It's the bike every little girl would love.) I went back and forth about how we really didn't have the extra cash to spend....after all we had already spent $70. Even with my logical budget-wise thinking, this bike had been on my mind all week. I knew what needed to happen. I knew that God was wanting me to do. Well...today God met me more than half-way. I received a random check in the mail for $32.21 from a consignment store that I had dropped some clothes off to sell earlier this Fall. We will be heading to Wal-Mart after working tomorrow and grabbing the Barbie bike that little Hillary was supposed to have.

I know I need to be more open to God when he presses things upon me and wants things for me and from me.
The big guy knows what he is doing.... It's not so much about the bike. This little girl will outgrow the bike in a few short years but I will never forget the lesson that was shown to me.

Merry Christmas Hillary. You might be the best gift I receive.