Giving Out – The Power of a Gift
Pause for Thought
Try to remember times when others have done something or said something that has made you feel loved and accepted.
The Gift of Encouragement
I am frequently surprised by things that other people remember that I have forgotten
completely. “Do you remember,” said my very oldest friend recently, “when you and some of the others bought me a pencil case for my eleventh birthday? It was the first time anyone except my immediate family had bought me a present and it meant so much.” “I always remember,” said another friend, “when you threw a surprise party for my
twenty-first birthday.” A letter arrived a few months ago. It was fro the pastor
of a parish we once attended, someone I hadn’t seen for twenty years or so, who had just read an article I had written. “I still remember your kindness.” he said, “in traveling all the way to see my new home.”
I had forgotten all these things. I am not listing them to tell you what a nice person I am; rather the opposite! I think god may have sent these little reminders to tell me something else I was in danger of forgetting: that in the long run, little kindnesses may be far more important than running an efficient office or writing successful books.
There are certain other things I remember, though, that are probably long forgotten by the person who did them. The encouraging words spoken by another student in a writing course when I had just nervously shared my first attempts at fiction and was feeling completely out of my depth. the girl at my new job, who m I hardly knew but bothered to say, “I like your outfit. You always dress so nicely!” I’m not sure it was true, but it made me feel so much better.
A card arrived one day, months after we had moved to anew area, from an old friend who just wanted to say she missed us. It didn’t matter that it came so late. God allowed it to come at just the right time when we needed encouragement.
Some other things that frequently take me by surprise
- The number of times someone who at first glance I thought might be boring or “not my type” turns out to be someone whose company I enjoy.
- The number of times I think I am doing a good turn for someone, only to find that the benefits I receive far outweigh what I gave.
- The number of times getting to know someone from another country or anther culture or with another set of beliefs has enriched me.
Chocolate for Lent, Hilary Brand