No Gift Too Small
When our first child was born in 1964, our friend Mike’s Aunt Marie, whom I hadn’t met, sent a gift to our baby. Mike’s wife Carol told me it was a carriage medal. Dave and I were recent converts and had never seen one of these before. I was overwhelmed with how nice that was. It brought me great joy through many babies. I bought several of these in the following years for others who wouldn’t be expecting a gift, hoping to recreate for them that joy and surprise.
January 1, 1970, we had three children, the oldest had just turned five. The fourth was due that month. A couple that Dave and I had known since our grade school days came for New Year’s to visit us with their little boys. But, that day baby number four decided to be born. It turned out he wasn’t born until January 28, but I spent a day or so in the hospital. While I was gone, our friends took down the Christmas tree, carefully stored all the ornaments, swept the needles and vacuumed the house. What a huge gift that was. They insisted it was nothing. The joy and the surprise of that gift became a benchmark for me in my life’s journey, hoping I would recognize an opportunity to do this for someone else. A gift that maybe they didn’t even know they needed until they felt the relief, along with the joy and the surprise.
Just two years ago my dear friend Carol passed away. I went to visit Mike and took copies of all my books signed in Carol’s memory to donate to the school library where she had volunteered for many years. It was a simple thing for me, but Mike was surprised and moved, as I had been years before by the gift his aunt had sent to me.
Mother Theresa reminds us that we aren’t capable of doing great things, only small things, done with great love. I’m going to expound on that based on my personal experiences and say that when small gifts are given wrapped in God’s love, they become great things, bringing joy and surprise beyond what we are capable of. Don’t ever fret about not being able to do enough, or that your gift is puny. Wrap it in God’s love and give it away. God’s surprise and joy will be enough.