means in which to bless the souls sur-
rounding us and embed themselves into
our words, our expressions, our actions.
Once rooted in The Giver, we have so
much more to give, a giving which would
flow from a source greater than our own.
Crazy, right? But I tell you, it’s true.
And sometimes the most meaningful
gifts come in the most peculiar packages.
A few weeks ago, I was having one
of “those days” at work. My hair insist-
ed upon rebelling against me, hormones
inflicted tragedy upon my skin, my brain
ached for want of sleep, and dear cus-
tomers seemed to know the exact but-
tons to push in which to impose some
internal misery. No need to expound any
further in which to say that I felt quite
unattractive that day. A small family
made their way towards me with dinner
on their minds. As I greeted them and
began taking their order, a high-pitch
voice interrupted the order with a ran-
dom, “You’re pretty!” An unreserved
beam broke across my face as I thanked
the child; I could not hinder it. A blonde,
wild-haired child with an unsightly
Christmas headband of neon lightbulbs
that lit up (I know this because she ea-
gerly demonstrated it for me), and she
had MADE my day. She had gifted me
with words of life.
Sometimes the most meaningful
gifts come in the most unexpected and
peculiar packages.
The most meaningful gifts don’t
necessarily have to dent the pocketbook.
We gift people with our smile, recogniz-
ing with it that they are created beings
worthy of our acknowledgment. We gift
people with our uninterrupted time,
telling them with it that we value their
presence enough to give them a moment
we’ll never have back. We gift souls with
a caring heart, one that listens to the
pain and does not shy from the mess. We
gift beings with words—words of life, of
love, of truth, of support, of affirmation.
So much authority and yet so easy to un-
derestimate and abuse the power of life
and death con-
tained within
the tongue. We
gift the world
with authentic-
ity, a simplistic
acknowledg-
ment of who we
are in Jesus; so
easy to talk but
my, how often
I fail when it
comes to the
walk. This gift
can face near
extinction in
today’s culture
when rather
than being real
and raw, we
hide behind the
walls of social
media, of crazy
scheduling, (even hiding away in GOOD
deeds—say what?) and perhaps even in
surface friendships. EVERY SINGLE
DAY we encounter opportunities to gift
someone…and yet, how often do we—or
rather I –ignore, forget, or simply choose
not to embrace these opportunities be-
cause of a self-consumed mind?
So often I forget. I get caught up
in trying to DO in Him rather than Be
in Him, to gift the world with my words
and actions rather than His words and
actions through me. There’s the catch
phrase: through me. Not by me or of my
own strength, but Him through me, us-
ing me as a channel of blessing and life.
And then comes the hardest piece:
surrender. Laying down my carnal self,
relinquishing my broken desires, accept-
ing the being
He created me
to be. Without
those pieces of
surrender im-
plemented in
my life, I can
push and force
and strive my
way through
life…only to
realize that it
avails me noth-
ing. He cannot
use me to gift
others when I
am consumed
with me. He
cannot fill me
when I am filled
with me!
It’s daily—the
giving up me
part. It’s a daily learning to cry out to
the Father and the Giver, “Fill me with
YOU!” And until we begin to learn this,
we can never fully give. We cannot give
from a source we have not.
And it all begins by embracing the
Giver.