Category: Stray Gifts

A Gentle Grace

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath2 Comments

Beauty is such a gentle grace. Like God, it rarely shouts, rarely intrudes. Rather it woos, soothes, invites; it romances and caresses. We often sigh in the presence of beauty as it begins to minister to us – a good, deep soul-sigh.

John Eldredge, Get Your Life Back, Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad

I go through phases of posting my #straygifts on social media and other times when I am quiet. I have been posting a bit more, so thought I would share the most recent collection here on the blog. A collage of photos (in random order) will be at the bottom of this entry.

Gifts Sunset: 1) Transition from the day’s work into night’s rest 2) Layers of color spread over the horizon 3) As the sun was setting on one side of the road, the moon was rising on the other. The view was breathtaking.

Gifts Fresh: 1) Crisp apples with breakfast 2) Autumn air on our face and arms as we ate breakfast on the porch 3) The sound of children laughing on the playground behind our apartment

Gifts Seasonal: 1) Fall craft paper – my favorite 2) I don’t always have the time to make greeting cards, but I was able to while in El Paso for a few weeks. 3) My creativity is seasonal because sometimes, I just have no idea what kinds of cards I want to make. Other times, like in these cards, I made them one right after another and the creative “juices” were flowing. I made 28 cards within a few days.

Gifts Hopeful: 1) John’s appointment with the surgeon last week went well. The shoulder looks like it is healing. If it continues to hurt, though, an MRI will be done in a few months to see what’s what. 2) Gradual cooling temperatures that make it actually feel like Autumn. 3) We live closer to our Dallas area friends now (less than 2 hours) and we may be venturing out to visit a few here and there in the coming months.

Gifts Conversation: 1) Talk of plans for the future and what God may have in store for us 2) Texts setting up a visit at the end of the month with friends 3) A phone call from my niece who is in college in TN

Gifts Outside: 1) John and I went to the Riverwalk here in Waco yesterday. It was a beautiful day to be outside and to take a walk. He could not have done this a year ago before his first hip replacement surgery. 2) Fresh breeze surrounding us with scents of grass and of the water off the river 3) Huge old oak trees with branches growing in all directions

Thank You, Jesus

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath2 Comments

“Thank you, Jesus”, says my aunt every time something good happens; a nice jacket goes on sale, a close parking spot becomes available, her bill was lower than she thought it would be. It can be easy to raise eyebrows because she isn’t shy about saying Thank You out loud, but I think she may be on to something. How often do I not give credit to God for something that goes on sale or for a close parking spot? Everything good that happens in life surely cannot be all coincidence, right? The more hectic my life is becoming, the more I am mindful of the handfuls of grace that come along and the more I say, “Thank you, Jesus”- out loud!

Here are a few stray gifts from September that I am thankful for:

  • My husband and I were out to eat one day and I noticed a young man reaching down to pick up a set of keys off the floor. A woman had just dropped her keys and hadn’t noticed. It was great to see some kindness spread.
  • Flowers from my dad!
  • Green lights all the way down Montana Avenue. I am not quite sure how that happened, but if you knew just how long that road is, you would be amazed too. I wasn’t in a hurry, but it was nice.
  • My husband had his right hip replaced in July. He has been able to help with dishes again after dinner in the last few weeks.
  • Speaking of hip replacement surgery, we thought he would have to wait until next year to have his left one done. The surgeon told him a few weeks ago that he felt John was strong enough to have the left one done soon. The date is set for October 21 and paperwork is going through much quicker this time between the VA and the surgeon’s office.
  • A tiny black and yellow bee in the yard. All I have seen are the big black carpenter bees, so the little one was nice to see since I am working to attract bees, butterflies, and birds through various plants.
  • A friend sent me a text with her very own stray gift through an unexpected healthcare rebate that will significantly help her financial needs. I love that she shared this with me and that she used the specific words, “stray gift”.
  • Other friends send me stray gift photos of their flowers, of sewing projects which turn out well, and of their surrounding scenery in a day which cause them to stop and say, “Thank you, Jesus”.

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

William Wordsworth, 1806

Image Not Available

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Remember the days when we went through a whole day without taking a photo? In this social media age, we can feel pressured to document every minute of our day and post it to Facebook, Instagram, and any other form of social sharing media. I thought I would share a few ‘stray gifts’ from the last few weeks without photos.

The last few weeks have been trying, to say the least. With my husband recovering from hip replacement surgery and my dad needing an impromptu knee surgery, life has been BUSY for me. I have been on the go every day taking either my husband or my dad to doctor appointments, sitting in waiting rooms, keeping the home together and dinner on the table. Because I was in the habit of looking for stray gifts, I was able to still notice the unexpected blessings in my days. It’s like the game of, “I spy with my little eye…”. Here is a list of some of the gifts I have ‘spied’ in the last few weeks:

  • A pretty little ladybug that landed on the car windshield after a long day. Seeing it made me stop and say, “Oh look!” to my son who was with me. Such cute little bugs, aren’t they?
  • We have had triple-digit temperatures here lately, but one morning I was up early and working in the yard. I remember the nice cool breeze, the windchimes gently chiming, and the peace of feeling comfortable for a bit outside.
  • One morning, I was RUSHED to get ready as an opportunity for a doctor appointment became available that day (for my dad’s knee/MRI). In my mad dash to shower and get ready, my son made me breakfast (and coffee!) and brought it upstairs so I could eat and prepare for the day at the same time. It’s tricky but doable. We had wanted to try a new recipe that morning and had already done the prep work the night before. He just finished making the French toast muffins by himself while I was getting ready for the day. Another morning, my husband cooked eggs for me while I was again hurrying to get out the door. Teamwork!
  • Rain! Twice in one week. That, truly, is a stray gift in these parts.
  • Did I mention I have been busy? One night, I slept for nine hours STRAIGHT! A miracle.
  • My son is home full time on break from college classes and for his twenty-third birthday, he and I did one of the things he loves best…we worked together in the kitchen making some of his favorite foods – breakfast pizza, homemade potato soup, and homemade crescent rolls.
  • When the MRI results came in for my dad that he did, indeed, need surgery on his left knee, surgery was able to be scheduled in one day. We quickly left the house for the hospital to register and the next day, he was on the operating table. The operation went well and now for the hard work of healing. No knee replacement was needed, but some repair work was in order. The surgery was this past Friday (August 16).
  • The afternoon of the surgery, after we came home from a long day, I was so tired. I went to bed around 5:00 PM (thinking I was just going to close my eyes for about an hour) and did not wake up until 1:00 AM. My husband and son thought to make me a sandwich ahead of time knowing I would wake up sometime feeling hungry. I was touched by their thoughtfulness.
  • I am thankful for butterflies, dragonflies, and bees spotted in our yard. For the scent of my basil in the breeze, for honeysuckle blooms, for yellow bells and climbing morning glories.
  • I am amazed at what wonderful meals can be made in a crockpot for busy days with just a few ingredients and a bit of creativity. There is nothing like a hot homemade meal, especially during the extra full seasons of life.

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

William Wordsworth, 1806

The Journey to Less Stuff

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People overestimate the pleasure they’ll get from having more stuff. This does not apply to new rose bushes, crayons, or yarn stashes.

Dr. SunWolf

In every place John and I have lived in, we have always had a closet, a bedroom, a shed, a garage dedicated to boxes of stuff. I had photos albums from high school, family photos, things that had belonged to my mother, memories from college, clothes I had hoped to fit in to again someday, and etc. John had his boxes of memories, too…and etc. Since we have been married, we have lived in seven states and one foreign country. And with those moves, we carried those boxes of stuff. I do not remember what officially sparked being fed up with having so much, but I do know I was tired of having to find places for it. I do know that if we ever move, I do not want to take all that stuff with me again. I do know that in the desert area where I live, dust falls on everything. And I do mean, e v e r y t h i n g. If I don’t wear a shirt for awhile that has been hanging in the closet, a layer of dust will be on the shoulders of the shirt and it has to be washed before I can wear it. Or if I hadn’t shampooed our bedroom carpet in the seven years we have lived here (just for a possible example), a layer of sand and dust will be found on baseboards hidden behind dressers…which have their own layer of dust because it is annoying to move things off dressers to thoroughly dust.

Everything we own is something we have to think about- how to store it, how to clean it, or how to use it and when left too long, the task to organize becomes overwhelming. I had saved old college papers I had written, my husband had his school papers he had saved. We had books, old letters, photos, and little bits and pieces such as keys, and coins, and dead batteries. Some of that was found in a bucket we had used to clean out the truck a long while ago; we just moved the items to another location and cluttered up another space. In the last few years, we have been convicted over being better stewards over our possessions and have been figuring out how to live with just what we need. Anything we own, we want it to have a purpose and we want to manage it and our time well. Time spent cleaning, sorting, organizing years of stuff is not the way we want to spend our days.

I loved the quote at the top of the page because we have, indeed, overestimated the pleasure of having stuff and the journey to possessing less stuff is a lot of work because it affects every area of life from clothing, to books, to papers, to memorabilia, to appliances, to furniture. I also loved the top statement because it implies that you can never have enough pleasure from roses. While I may not get too much pleasure from crayons or stashes of yarn, I do love my roses and wouldn’t mind a few more in the yard. Everyone in the family enjoys them and they add a different, simple sort of pleasure to our summer.

Speaking of roses, here are June’s #straygifts (photo of a rose included) with the themes of finding something: early, tiny, sunny, and in the shadows.

  1. Morning Glories are starting to show up in various places in the yard. The time to see them in bloom is early morning.
  2. Red roses are thriving in a sunny spot. There are more on the bush, but I loved this one in particular because of the sun rays.
  3. I have no idea what these tiny flowers are. I believe these flowers came from the birdseeds the birds like to scatter from their feeder.
  4. In the shadows, a sunflower is growing – from the same birdseed package as the flower growing in photo number three.
Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
-William Wordsworth, 1806

The Gift of 86,400 Seconds

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God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say “thank you”?

William Ward

It is quite challenging to have a theme each month – for study, for photo opportunities/stray gifts – and it’s only February! I have followed other challenges in the past, but felt God was leading me to create my own based on where He was guiding my studies and blog writing. For this month’s stray gifts theme, the words which came to mind were: admirable, kind, lovely, and sweet. For anyone who may be reading the term ‘stray gifts’ in my writing for the first time, it is based on a quote by William Wadsworth who wrote, “Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find”. I have been taking notes, snapping photos, and writing about noticing these ‘stray gifts’, but with the take on that God has His hand in everything. These gifts really are not strays, but handfuls of purpose in my path that He put there to bring my attention to Him. Here is what I have so far for February: (photos first this time, explanations below)

#1) “Lovely” – From our kitchen window this week, we watched this bird (I think a finch) eating away at the feeder. He had beautiful red and brown feathers.

#2) “Admirable” – Jonathan (my son) is a junior at UTEP and it is his first semester attending. In between classes or while waiting for my husband to be done with work, he has been walking all over campus to see what’s what. The theater, science buildings, the basketball stadium that was used in the 60’s. Track and field, football stadium, Geology building, Fine Arts building where he found himself beneath the stage…I say “admirable” because he was curious about something and went to explore. He could have looked at photos online and it would have been much easier. But he has been walking all around the campus lately because he was interested. He walked in cowboy boots, by the way. Because ..well…we’re in Texas. That’s what we do.

#3) “Sweet” – TWO lovely cards last week. What a fun surprise! The handmade card and envelope from my 11 yr old niece. I love it! The other card from a long time friend which made it all the more special.

#4) “Lovely” – Don Juan climbing red rose bush with baby leaves. I read that climbing roses need not be pruned right away, to wait until after the first bloom. I only planted this last year so I am looking forward to seeing how they do this year. #straygifts in lovely red roses wanting to wake up already.

#5) “Sweet” – My husband brought home these cookies for me knowing I love a chocolate and mint combination. Coincidentally, I was drinking mint tea that day because I was in the mood for it. (He didn’t know that.)

#6) “Kind” – My husband isn’t really known for being a “kid person”, yet somehow he has managed to have a collection of buddies in our church in Mexico. We are not sure when this game started of him getting their shoes and putting them just out of reach, but they are highly entertained by it. They pretty much hand him a shoe for him to toss. Sometimes, my tall son comes to the rescue with a ladder to get shoes off the roof. Stray gifts in surprising entertainment, kind adults who play with kids, and sweet play, too.

Minister Grace

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This month, a focus has been on encouraging through three ways: praying for a caregiver you know, writing a note or card to someone, and through complementing. While looking for Bible verses to share on Facebook on the topic of encouragement, I found this:

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Ephesians 4:29

I began to think of being an encouragement in a different way than I had been writing about. More than praying, more than writing a note, and more than complementing someone, encouraging others can be done simply through our behavior – how we speak in our every day lives. Based on how I communicate, am I an encouragement to others who might be around listening? Do I complain often? Do I speak well of others? Are my words useful? Does my behavior help improve others or impair? Ouch. The answers to those questions sting a bit. My words are not always useful for good nor do they at all times minister grace, to be honest. Looks like I have some work to do.

In the meantime, I will keep counting the stray gifts, keep looking for the good and pray that in some way, sharing them uplifts and inspires others to look for the gifts in their lives as well. Here are this week’s stray gifts photos: (January’s theme: inspirational, white, heartfelt, new growth)

Top Left: A little bit of color is left on the rose bush from last year. The rose was ready to bloom but had frozen overnight. Soon it will be time to prune the rose bushes to make way for another year of new growth.

Top Middle: The book, “Patches of Godlight” by Jan Karon. It is full of inspirational quotes, poems, and Bible verses. I have shared many parts of this book on social media. It is well-loved and used often.

Top Right: This is a daylily I had just about given up for dead. I bought it for $3.00 last year on clearance. Looks like it might be ok.

Bottom Left: This pink oleander plant was transplanted from the front yard to the back when we first moved in. Over the last 5 years, it showed a little life after the transplant, so we kept cutting the dead branches down to make way for the new. Last year, this bush exploded in height and in blooms. It seems it might make it another year. Healthy looking growth reaching for the sun.

Bottom Right: Stray gifts “white” -the top of our dog’s head when she nuzzles in for some love. We adopted her a few years ago and she is an entertaining playmate, a fun walking companion, a good listener, and an excellent encourager.

Not pictured: Heartfelt hope in x-ray results for my husband who has been struggling with pain in his hips and legs for a long time. The VA has not wanted to do much with this issue because he was told he was ‘too young’ to have a hip replacement when they first detected a problem. Now both his hips are bad and are basically bone on bone. “Severe degenerative change” is how the findings were written. Good news: He doesn’t have an auto immune disease as we originally thought. This issue is fixable and he is hopeful for a better quality of life in the future.


Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
-William Wordsworth, 1806

The Day’s Resolutions

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I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.

H. Moore

For me, it is difficult to resolve to do something for a whole year. I make plans to lose weight, but life gets busy and rough and sometimes, eating out is the simplest. I do not always make the wisest choices when eating out and on busy days, I tend to forget making time to exercise. My husband and I make plans to save money, but the truck breaks down, prescriptions need to be filled, shoes wear out, a loved one needs help, and the list could go on. A few months pass by in the new year and discouragement sets in.

What if I think in terms of the day’s resolutions instead? Thinking about maintaining a new habit for a whole year tends to feel overwhelming, but I believe I can manage one day at a time.

Today I will resolve to:

  • Summon the courage to face a problem so I won’t have to deal with it tomorrow.
  • Dedicate my thoughts to making one right decision at a time.
  • Live in grace when ‘productivity’ may be resting and not accomplishing tasks on a to-do list.
  • Look for the gifts in life and not focus on the grief.

Last year, I started looking more for the gifts in life. This treasure hunt every day helps me remember God’s involvement in even the smallest of details. I am continuing this search for the gifts because I believe it has helped me to notice His hand in my life more than ever. For January, I have a had a focus to look for four types of gifts: white, inspirational, heartfelt, and brand new.

Here are the latest photos in stray gifts.

Top Row: (Left) White alyssums still alive during the cold weather. (Right) Beautiful pine cones noticed on one of our walks. I love the contrast of white and brown.

Middle Row: (Left) I am not sure where this inspirational book of prayers came from, but I love a lot of the poems in here and share them on social media often. (Right) While out watering and checking on my plants, I was struck by the new growth of mum leaves.

Bottom Row: (Left) On a walk last week, we saw bare trees, palm trees, and birds in trees. Art in nature is always inspirational. (Right) A brand new scent to the earth and all that is in it after a good rain.

Not pictured: Stray gifts “heartfelt” showed up in thanks around the table last week from my husband, my son, and my dad over mashed potatoes -which I don’t make too often. I think my dad had potatoes with a side of rotisserie chicken and broccoli! (Maybe I need to make mashed potatoes more often?) ‘Grateful for thankful hearts and food on the table. And for the aforementioned men who help clear the table and wash the dishes!


Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
-William Wordsworth, 1806

Grace Goals for January

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath2 Comments

I have had this idea rolling around in my head for quite awhile now, and I think it’s time to let it out of my brain and see how it goes. A “mood board” of sorts to set the tone for the month, a theme for #straygifts, a specific prayer plan/topic along with helpful blog posts, a corresponding Scripture verse to implement, and a possible ‘ministry goal’. It seems like a lot, I know, which is why I created a collage guide to explain.

TOP LEFT CORNER is a photo of cardmaking supplies, a ministry of sorts for me. I like to send cards and to hopefully be an encouragement to someone. I especially like to include a note about family happenings, flowers which may be blooming, the weather, ministry updates – more than just my signature at the bottom of a card. I strive to make each card personal. This month’s card theme will be winter-related for me. Is there someone who would love a handwritten note? Would you consider sending a card to at least one person this month?

TOP RIGHT CORNER is a prayer plan suggestion to pray for caretakers in January with a corresponding Scripture verse for meditation. Being a “caretaker” myself for a parent who needs care from time to time, I am more aware of friends and family who are doing the same. It is a big ministry for anyone in a caretaker position. When the idea originally came to me, I was thinking of caretakers for aging parents. While doing research for what caretakers do, I came across so many more descriptions for the word. A caretaker could be a stay-at-home-mom, a working mom juggling home and an outside job, a janitor at work, the waitress who always remembers what you order to drink, those who clean your church. All job descriptions which thrive with a humble spirit. There are so many! I would imagine, though, someone came to mind when you read this and maybe this month, you could pray for them and offer an encouraging word through a written note or by spoken word.

BOTTOM LEFT is a “Grace Goals” section. I have a beautiful poem I share on an upcoming blog post that inspired this. Theme: Compliment someone this month – or many people!- you never know how much a person might have needed it that day. Spread some light!

BOTTOM RIGHT are “Stray Gifts” suggestions to look out for throughout January.

Of course, I would love your participation – to build a community where we pray for each other, share stray gifts we see in the day, share ministry ideas for friends and family. I realize a lot of people read posts and do not comment or acknowledge that they read entries on Facebook or here on the blog. I do hope you follow along – whether by likes, shares, and comments, or quietly in your own way. Either way, thank you for stopping by A Record of Graces. I believe together, we can make a difference. #gracegoals2019

I hope your first week of 2019 is going well!

Bright Hope for Tomorrow

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What can I say on the last day of 2018? How would I describe the year in one word or phrase? Looking back on my Facebook posts and my blog entries, I would say the phrase that comes up the most is, “stray gifts” based on the quote, “Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find” by William Wordsworth. I was tempted many times to think it silly to post such things about blooming flowers, intricately designed spider webs, a note from my seven year old niece, and any thing big or small that stopped me in my tracks. But I have been surprised over and over by others who have written me notes telling me they, too, are looking. A lost-then-found key, a song bird, country views from a front porch, December roses blooming outside a friend’s kitchen window- all claiming God’s hand in the day-to-day, giving wings to the mindset of looking for the good in a day.

I have learned that each day has all kinds of stray gifts which I believe are placed there in my path. They are handfuls of purpose. They are reminders that He has not forgotten me in times of trouble, that He delights in my noticing Him in the details, and that every day, His mercies are new.

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow -Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

Going into the new year, I find myself thinking of the song, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and the line, “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” Strength to reflect on the past year with grace and hope for tomorrow in the new year that there will be more ‘stray gifts’ for me to find. Once I started noticing one stray gift, as the days went by, it became easier to notice more. Then I began to wake up wondering what new thing I might see in the day. Each new gift received with a thankful heart gives strength, I believe- strength to trust God that I am on His mind, strength to move past things in life which have weighed me down. And always, the Lord offers bright hope for tomorrow reminding me that trials are seasonal and looking for His hand in the day makes life more bearable when life seems on shaky ground. Keeping hope alive is calming. When doubts and fears assail, without hope, we falter. With hope, comes new promise, like a seedling stretching up toward the sun.

Lord, teach me to trust in Your strength just for today, for this moment in time, for this situation, for this trial. I realize just because a new year starts tomorrow, that doesn’t mean everything ‘resets’ to ‘factory settings’. We will still have ongoing health issues, financial hurdles, and spiritual warfare, yet Your strength is perfect for today and Your bright hope is all I ask and all I need. Amen.

Everything a Miracle

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“It was Einstein who said

either nothing is a miracle,

or everything is –

a jagged mountain range,

lilacs in bloom,

a peacock unfurled,

sun on your arm,

the touch of a stranger.

Take your pick: be surprised

by nothing at all,

or by everything that is.”

-Poem “Epiphany” by Maryanne Hannan

We were surprised by the beautiful snow falling last night and again this morning – a definite ‘stray gifts’ moment since snow is so rare in these parts. Here is a collage of photos I took in my backyard this morning.

And Happy New Year to you! May you find your very own stray gifts, miracles, and surprises in each new day of 2019.

Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find. -William Wordsworth, 1806