Being this type of tool is a good thing

It has been a wonderful day. I can't recall a better birthday. I received wonderful gifts including the gift of reflection from many. Gifts as a love language is near the top in my list of love languages. However today has not been filled with literal gifts, and yet I received a number of very nice gifts. Today has been filled with people. It has been filled with my the joy and gracious love of my beloved, it has been filled with the gift of contact by both of my two amazing children, now adults. They have taught me much in their 23 and 20 year life spans. It has been filled with phone calls from family members and posts on my beloveds face book from friends, it has been filled with calls and text messages from friends old and new and filled with contact and even gifts from my new small group.

It has been a day filled with blessings. One of those is a gift from new friends. A book by a favourite author about called "Shaped by God". This book deals with the idea that as we go through trials that God uses them to shape us into better people and better tools for His service.

I want to be a "tool" that is used to help others become who they were created to be. I realize that this type of tool must be used, sometimes in difficult settings to accomplish those tasks. I know that sometimes this type of tool  is dropped and dented, is placed too close to a source of hear and risks being burned. I still want to be that tool.

As birthdays go, this has been one of the best.

Thanks to Jo, my beloved, thanks to Josh and Alex my Christ follower children who depend on Him daily for their every need. Thanks to my friends for calling and writing. Thanks to my family(biological and otherwise) for your calls, emails and your love. Why one man should be so blessed is beyond  my capability to understand.

What have I done to deserve this? That questions is often preceded by a calamity. This is no calamity, this is beautiful, this is life, this is God's love for me and for all, for He did not come to condemn me or the rest of this world, but to save me and the rest of this world through Jesus.

Thanks God for making me a tool to be used in your workbench.