Tag: Stray Gifts

To Be Remembered In The Heart

Published on by Rebecca GilbreathLeave a comment

I walked out of the house on Friday without my cell phone. And I did not have time to go back to get it. My husband hasn’t been feeling well and I needed to drive him to his college class because he had an exam to take. And I needed to drop off our son at his college as well. In our treck out the door, I left my phone on the kitchen table. I had the plan to go to Kohl’s real quick on the way home, and what if there was a coupon on the internet I could grab on my phone? What if I saw something for a “stray gift” and I didn’t have my phone/camera to remember it by? What if my dad called me and needed something? What in the world did we do before we had cell phones???  I do remember those days. We lived life and if we were unavailable, well, we were simply unavailable (shocking, I know). And if we did not have our camera and film, well we just didn’t have it. And if we forgot our coupon at home, we went without it or waited until we remembered to bring it.

I did remember to bring a book, however. Because I did not have my cell phone on me, I stayed around at the college to wait until John was done with his test. So it was just me, a book, and the author (figuratively, not literally). I looked up to people-watch a bit here and there, but the alone time was unbelievably restful even with people coming and going. If I had been home and alone, I would have been cleaning, doing laundry, or some other such chore and not really been able to BE STILL. The gift of stillness is a wonderful thing.

So I have no photo. Nothing to commemorate that I had a “stray gift moment”. Does it mean it did not exist because I have no visual proof? Of course not. “Stray gifts”, gifts that cause you to pause in wonder, are not always tangible. Sometimes they are moments to be remembered in the heart.

(The featured image photo was taken a few years ago in front of a local historic museum. I edited it using an ink engraved drawing filter.)

On the Hunt

Published on by Rebecca GilbreathLeave a comment

I am still looking for those “stray gifts” I have mentioned in a few posts. I wonder each morning what I will see, what will grab my attention. I feel that if God brings my focus to something specific, He is asking me, “Do you see?” I answer with a resounding “Yes” when I physically stop to observe.

I live in a city where everyone always seems to be in a hurry. Confession: I think it is hilarious when someone passes me (speeding, of course) and ends up at the same red light as I do. Is that mean? Not very grace-full, is it?  I always feel ‘pushed around’ when driving around town. I am a rule follower by nature and I have never received a speeding ticket. I think I might cry if I did! I did get a ticket for running a red light once. In my defense, I was behind a big truck and didn’t see the traffic light change until too late. The ticket came in the mail, so I was able to grieve at home in peace instead of in front of a police officer on the side of the road. I have become more aware of my need for these stray gifts in my day. They remind me to slow down. Just because everyone else seems to be going at a frantic pace, that doesn’t mean I have to be.  The unexpected gifts bring perspective. They bring focus to the important, to the beautiful. And I am sure it lowers my blood pressure. Quite sure.

I enjoy being on the hunt for these gifts. It can be anything from flowers, the sky any time of the day, rain puddles (rain is rare around here), to just enjoying some alone time. There is no specific guideline as to what qualifies as a stray gift. God knows just what we need; an answer to prayer, emotional relief from certain problems,  lost keys that now are found, a note in the mail from a long lost friend, an old photo which brings back good memories. To see, to know, to consider, to understand that God’s hand was in this is quite powerful and has the ability to change how we see. It matters to Him that we notice.

Anytime we consider God’s hand and His heart, we carve in the dirt and the muck of this world a pathway to greater faith.

Here is this week’s captured stray gifts.

Top Row (left to right): Roses that hide in the shade;  Stray gifts found in climbing potted houseplants. I had no idea it would climb like this. My dad has one that is stretching all the way around his room. He keeps it away from his bed so it doesn’t decide to choke him in the middle of the night. He is quite serious about this. ((Can plants do that???); Finding gold in my front yard

Middle Row: Morning Glory blooms are finally here! This is the very first bloom of the year on these vines; Again with the Morning Glories..they are seriously popping up everywhere. These are wrapping around the red rose barrel; Filtered sunlight through trees.

Bottom Row:  Stray gifts in blue skies and sunsets; not because they just “happened” to be there, but because I happened to wander outside to look.

A Closer Look

Published on by Rebecca GilbreathLeave a comment

On Facebook and Instagram, I started tagging different posts with the tag #straygifts. A few weeks ago, I posted this quote, “Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.” -William Wordsworth, 1806. While a great quote, I questioned if anything was really a ‘stray gift’. These gifts throughout my day are things I notice that “just-so-happened” to be within arm’s reach. Something that stops me in my tracks to look a little closer at the details.  Are they there by accident or by Divine design? I’d like to think the latter. Here is a collage of just a few this week that caused me to stop and say, “I know that was you, God. Thanks.” For instance, out of a bag of wildflower seeds, only a few have done well. This collage is of the same plant within a week. I was stunned to see the flowers! I was curious to see what in the world this was going to look like. I felt as if God was drawing me outside whispering, “Look what I made for you!”. A friend of mine thought they might be four o’clock flowers.

Here is another collage I made with just some of the stray gifts in the last week. From left to right:

Top Row: (left to right) 1) Raindrops on roses (It rained!!), 2) Morning Glory vines winding their way up and around, 3) Puppy paws stepping through puddles (Did I mention it rained? It’s a big deal around here.)

Middle Row: 1) An ‘organized’ spider web which belongs to an orb weaver spider. An organized spider web, I was told, means that ‘a friendly spider lives here’. 2) Surprises in wildflowers

Bottom Row: 1) Something new growing with my marigolds. I have no idea what it is. A weed? A flower? I don’t know..but I like it. 2) Crepe Myrtles doing well in the heat 3) Sunbeams shining bright through front windows

 

 

Stray Gifts

Published on by Rebecca GilbreathLeave a comment

Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

William Wordsworth, 1806

I am always looking to capture something of beauty and after finding this quote about stray gifts, I have felt a different level of awareness of things that happen during the day. I use the term “stray gifts” often now when good things happen. I wonder, though, are there such things as “stray” gifts? Or are they put intentionally in my path and I am the stray? Because my thoughts ramble, my feet wander, does God put things in my day to cause me to stop in awe and reflect? Through God’s favor, I am given miracles every day. Do I notice? Am I looking for them? A handwritten note in the mail, a text from a friend sharing their stray gifts, a day when thunder rolls and rain comes to this desert land all count. The red-chested finches chirping at the bird feeder and bright orange mums returning for the third year in a row make for a brighter day. Morning Glory vines growing along the backyard wall that I didn’t plant are always welcomed. (I suspect a bird transported the seeds). Scents of honeysuckle, roses, and star jasmine on the breeze invite me to breathe a little deeper. Sunsets glowing red through back-of-the-house windows especially cause me to pause in the day. All these things and more I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. These gifts are spread all over the place. When I stop and take note, I make time for God. And when I make time for God, I celebrate the time He designed for me to be with Him and to receive the gifts He placed in my path.