Christmas Presents with a Message

            I've been Christmas shopping.  I like to give gifts that have meaning, and today, at the craft fair I visited, I found two great ones.  

            The first was a knitted headband that you put over your ears to keep them warm. It had   lovely flowers embroidered on it.  I was attracted to it for its beauty, but then I met the artist – Barbara Wagner.  Her logo was OLY‑AU.  "What does that mean?" I asked.  

            "Olympic gold," she said.  "I was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in pair's figure skating."  She showed me her gold medal and a flyer with a picture of her and her partner skating at the Olympic Games.  

            We chatted for a moment.  "I wasn't the most talented person on the team." she told me.  "I just worked harder than anyone else."  

            I had my gift for the 13‑year-old on my list.  It will go with the flyer and a note from me that says, "Hard work trumps talent.  Remember that when you wear this headband.  The artist who made it won an Olympic gold medal that way."  

            Proverbs tells us, "The hand of the diligent will rule."  (Proverbs 12:24).  Note it does not say "The hand of the talented will rule." 

            The next gifts I found were two stuffed rabbits, cutely decked out in skirts and bows for the 6 and 8‑year-old girls on my list.  We had talked previously about Oswald, a rabbit, who was Mickey Mouse's popular predecessor.  Walt Disney created Oswald when he was working for one of the then big movie studios.  He was fired and told he could not take Oswald with him because Oswald belonged to the studio.  

            As a heartbroken Walt sat on the train returning home, he knew he needed a new character. He began to sketch.  By the time he got home he had it – a cute mouse, which his wife named Mickey.  The iconic Mickey Mouse, recognized worldwide, was born.  Oswald has been all but forgotten.  

            The rabbits will go to the girls with a note from me, "If you ever lose your Oswald, don't cry – just create a Mickey Mouse."  

            The apostle Paul reminds us that "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28.