Giving from the Heart

 

The boys got a birthday party invite in the mail yesterday, they love getting mail so there was lots of jumping around and yelling involved. 

Once they realized what it was they all had only one thought… not, what kind of party?… not, will there be party favors?… not even, will there be food?

Their first though was ‘What gift will we bring?’! And if you know my boys it’s not what will we buy, it’s what can we make or which of our toys can we give!  I love their generous spirit!

It’s hard for me to bite my tongue when they want to give a friend one of their beat up toy cars. I look at it and think what will people think if we bring something so obviously used, we can’t give that as a gift, how embarrassing. 

But in my children’s hearts it’s a totally different story… they’re giving something that is special to them. That used, beat up toy got that way because they love it and love to play with it, and now they want to share that joy with their friend!

What selfless giving!  I’ll admit I’m not much of a gift giver, but to take a favorite possession and give it to a friend so they can take the joy in it that I take would never cross my mind.  I might buy them one like it, but to give mine? Me do without to make them happy???  No way… it’s MINE!

But then I remember “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”, and I pray that I will be more like my children and give just for the joy of giving with no thought to the cost.

So FYI, if you ever invite us to a party and my boys bring hand-me-down gifts wrapped in construction paper… know that much more love and thought went into that gift than the prettily wrapped one from the store that I’m carrying.  And please be patient with my embarrassed, stammering explanation of their gifts… I’m still a work in progress!