Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Present - Repents - Serpent (07/17/25)
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TITLE: Like No Other | Previous Challenge Entry
By Margo McKenzie
07/23/25 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Among the bounty, one early gift captured my reflective moments. Even after God’s two children tried to hide from him, he offered them a more appropriate covering than the fig leaves they had found for themselves (Gen. 3:21). They could have said, "No, thank you," but they didn’t. They needed this gift of animal skins. God knew it; once he made the offer, they did too.
We often give gifts to our children as a reward for school work, for completing chores, or because it’s a special day. Rare occasions pop up when we offer an unconditional gift. Maybe we saw something in a store, and we just couldn’t resist the urge to buy it for our son or daughter. Maybe our grandchildren needed something, and we decided to supply it without any prodding from anyone. After one year in Virginia, my college-age daughter decided to leave the warm climate of the south to continue her education in Buffalo, New York, where temperatures can reach below freezing and snow as high as 10 feet or more. Even though she didn’t ask, I knew what I had to do and took great care and pleasure doing it.
I wanted her to be warm, protected from the fierce elements. (She already had a decent pair of boots.) With her in mind, I studied the overcoats stores offered and purchased one with an interior lined with goose feathers and a waterproof exterior, designed to withstand wet snow and freezing winds. If I couldn’t be there to protect her, at least, this coat could.
After enclosing the coat in a box, I secured it with tape and added a layer of carefully chosen wrapping paper. I wanted her to experience a little intrigue about the paper‘s design and wonder about what was inside the box, maybe even make a few guesses before the big reveal. Those moments of exhilaration were part of my plan. Once she removed the paper and opened the box, I experienced as much joy in giving as she did in receiving, while she tried on the coat and marveled at its perfect design, fabric, and fit. I marveled too.
She followed her exhilarated moment with a thankful hug, and I continued to experience her sustained gratitude over the years from her use and reuse of the gift—-going on over ten years now. Since that coat purchase, I have purchased many other gifts, but so many of them are stashed in a drawer somewhere, lost on a bookshelf, or hidden in a closet. I have to admit that coat choice was a great gift.
I know, however, I can never “beat God giving,” as the song goes (not that I try), especially when I consider the time God outdid himself with his giving when he gave away something he had only one of. He knew the suffering his beloved Son would have to endure, yet he made the offer to mankind. It was a giving that covers us with a covering more precious than a winter jacket. Although this gift had no dazzling wrapping paper, it was bound in red ribbons of blood and covered its recipients in warm caresses of hope and healing. This is a gift like no other. And for such a gift as this, an awed, bowed head and a lifetime of hallelujahs can never adequately express the gratitude the Gift-giver deserves.
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