BY JESSICA LANDMON
I bought the present weeks ago. It was a nice present, and I put a lot of thought into purchasing it. However, the day of the party arrived quickly, and minutes before we had to leave, I remembered that it was yet to be wrapped. Life had been just a little bit crazy the last few weeks. Now that summer was over, the running around and juggling act soon became a reality again. Unfortunately, picking up some wrapping paper from the store was not top on my list.
In a panic, I decided to make do with what I had. I grabbed a recycled gift bag from the closet and placed the present inside. Although the gift was obviously too big for this bag, I had no other options and felt pretty confident that tissue paper could fix this. Then, I realized that I had none.
Remembering that an item I ordered recently online was wrapped in gold tissue paper, I quickly ran to the recycle bin and fished it out. A conveniently placed piece of ribbon that my daughter didn’t put away from the day before sat lying on the counter and finished the look. Voila! The gift was ready to go.
When I took a step back, I admired my ingenuity, but recognized that the gift looked pathetic. It was a wrinkled, mismatched mess. And the worst part was that there was no time to do anything about it! Off to the party we went.
Things were going well until present time arrived. Of course, my interior designer sister-in-law’s present was up first. As you would expect, her presents are always wrapped in Pinterest worthy fashion. So when my present came up, I began to squirm in my seat, completely ashamed of the presentation of my gift. However, what happened next made all the embarrassment quickly fade away.
My father-in-law looked at the gift, unaffected by the exterior, and pulled the present right out of the bag. The expression of gratitude on his face made the gift-wrapping disaster fall to the wayside. He was truly excited and touched by the gift we purchased.
As the saying goes, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I know this, but I sometimes allow my perfectionism to get the best of me. And sometimes, this transfers to other areas of my life. Can anyone relate?
All too often, we, as women, focus on superficial nonsense. We worry about the way we dress, our weight, our hair and make-up, the car we drive, and other worldly measures that don’t mean a thing. We tend to equate our exterior presentation with our worth. That’s ridiculous!
God is not interested in how we present, but very much interested in the condition of our hearts. We spend too much time on shallow pursuits, and not enough time working on our interior.
Ladies, it’s time to stop getting all wrapped up on the exterior, and remember that it’s what’s on the inside that counts!
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. – 1 Samuel 16:7, NKJV
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We hope that you will be able to join us for the “The Power Within” Conference on Saturday, October 29th, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:oo p.m. at the The Cornerstone Church in Cheshire, Connecticut. We are expecting a refreshing time with the Lord. Early bird pricing is available through 9/30/16.
For tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-power-within-womens-conference-tickets-25701743607