dailydatewithgod

When I think about things I have been given I find myself wondering how well I received them.  Did I handle it differently if it was something I asked for versus someone else choosing to give to me?  Gifts are a funny thing and come in wrapped in all kinds of packages. Some of the best things I have been given came not in a form I would have requested.  When God gives to us it is because of who God is. God does not give out of obligation or responsibility.  The Great Creator simply creates out of love and the gifts we are given are an expression of love. They are the gifts our souls need to create room for more love in th world.  We can facilitate the growth of the gift by receiving the gifts we have been given and using them to best and highest good despite the packaging they come in.  We are given gifts to use them.  The gifts I struggle receiving the most are the ones I judge as not being gifts at all.  Who wants to be given the experience of being an addict?  Since when is the experience of being an incest survivor a gift?  Who wants the experience of being made fun of in school?  We all have our versions of this.  I have learned on my daily dates with God that we have the capacity to accept what we have been given when we look to God as to how to use it.  I know with God’s help my path of addiction led me to the spirituality of the 12 steps which has become the guiding path in life that I never knew I wanted and needed to be the key to freedom.  With God’s help I have learned how to survive a confusing and frightening childhood experience and find space in my heart for greater love and forgiveness than the world believes is possible.  I have learned what real love and acceptance are from the gifts I have been given in the worst packages.  I am grateful for my courage to receive them and the willingness to turn to God to ask how to use them today.