Have you ever found the perfect gift for someone and been so excited you couldn’t wait to give it to them?
That’s what happened to me a few months ago. I went looking for my friend’s favourite flower, a gerbera daisy. A cut one wouldn’t do, it had to be potted. I was trying to decide between the yellow or pink one when something at the end of the aisle caught my attention. This one had three big flowers and was red, her favourite colour.
My friend was going through a rough patch and I knew the plant would cheer her. What I hadn’t considered was the joy it brought me to give the gift.
A couple of weeks later she texted me a picture of the plant with the caption, your gift keeps on giving. The original flowers were still beautiful and a new bloom had emerged that morning.
A few days ago, I received another picture of the plant. It had only one fading flower and didn’t look nearly as lovely. She told me the gerbera was looking a little worse for wear but just doesn’t give up. Three more blossoms were coming.
Her next words were what inspired this post. She said, “She (the plant) reminds me of me. A little worse for wear but keeps on going.”
I think a lot of us feel a little worse for wear right now. My friend maintains a bubbly personality and infectious laugh that draws people to her. She is an example to maintain and positive attitude and not give up hope.
And, like the gift of this plant, it’s possible some little thing you do for another may come back and bless you. Your time to bloom again is coming.
Tag: gift
A Timely Gift
When my mother passed away, I inherited her anniversary clock. It had been purchased when I was a baby and always sat on the mantle of my childhood home.
The clock sits beneath a glass dome. It has a pendulum with four brass balls which rotate slowly in one direction and then the other. An annual winding is all that’s required.
I was honoured that as mom’s time ran out, the timepiece she loved came to reside with me. My mom’s life exemplified the importance of sharing time with others. She was a lifelong volunteer and even at the age of eighty, frequently drove ‘old people’ to medical appointments or to get groceries.
The clock has been in my possession for over twenty years now and for most, if not all of that time, has been purely ornamental. In our recent move, the delicate clock suffered damage to the pendulum clip. Since it needed repair, I decided this was a good time to have it restored to running order.
The clock was returned to me a few weeks before my birthday. Both of us are old enough to be considered vintage. That means we’re not yet antique, but are becoming more valuable with the passing of time!
The combination of the anniversary clock and anniversary of my birth have me reminiscing. Moments of time replay in my mind. The joys, heartaches and lessons of my past have contributed to who I am today. How I currently spend my time will influence my life tomorrow. My goal is to invest it wisely.
Only I can give the gift of my time. When I share it with you, I am giving you a portion of my life. By taking the time to read this, you have done the same for me. Thank you, my friends, for spending your valuable time with me today. You have given me the best gift possible.
Christmas Flower
I was in Mexico in late November and enjoyed seeing the festive decorations. While in a large store I turned to head up another aisle and saw a display that took my breath away. The poinsettias for sale were three feet tall! How I wished I could bring one home with me.
I remembered that this showy plant is native to Mexico but that was the extent of my knowledge. I decided to do some research and found that, in its natural habitat, the poinsettia is a perennial shrub that can grow ten to fifteen feet tall. And I thought the ones I saw were large!
How did they become associated with Christmas, I wondered? I turned to Wikipedia for my answer.
Legend tells of a girl who was too poor to provide a gift for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. She was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from beside the road and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds, resulting in the flower we know as a poinsettia.
There were some other interesting facts, but it was the legend that captured my mind. I can relate to a gift of weeds being transformed into blossoms. No gift is too small for God to use. I learned this first hand when I gave my life to Jesus. He will take whatever we give Him and turn it into something unexpected and beautiful. That is why I honour Jesus, not only at Christmas but every day.
“And you’ve become a new person. The new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator.” (Colossians 3:10 GWT)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)
A Special Pillow
Sometimes we happen to find the perfect gift for a loved one. That was the case with a birthday present for our nine-year-old granddaughter.
Part of her gift was a pillow. This was not your everyday pillow but a special one, with one side in a satin fabric and the other covered with sequins. I knew it would be a hit because what little girl doesn’t like sequins?
It got even better, though as these adornments were purple on one side and silver on the other. The colour changed depending on the direction you ran your hand over the surface. We watched her write and draw as she customized this special gift.
I understood why she liked the pillow because I enjoyed playing with it, too. There was no right or wrong way to make the designs. It could be predominantly purple, mostly silver or a blend of the two colours. I could draw straight lines or make random patterns.
If there was something I didn’t like I could erase it with a simple swipe of the hand. Starting over was not a failure but an opportunity to make something new.
I can create this feeling in other areas of my life. The pattern of my life is unique to me. There is no need to be the same as everyone else. If something isn’t working out for me I can embrace the opportunity to start again.
Somehow, playing with this pillow was freeing. I may just have to get one of my own!
An Unexpected gift
Recently I was given a gift of appreciation from three women I’d been encouraging and affirming over a period of months.
As they hugged me and thanked me for loving them through some tough times, I was deeply touched. To hear my small involvement in their lives had made a difference was a gift of monumental proportions for me.
Over the years I’ve heard the saying, “Giving is receiving.” The fulfillment I felt was the perfect example of this. I used to think that to make a difference I must do something big, something noteworthy. In actual fact, sometimes all I need to do is to show up. Everyone’s time is valuable and giving it to others shows we care.
The women I mentioned didn’t need to do anything else to show their appreciation. I was surprised when they also handed me a gift bag. It contained a lovely journal and a pen with the inscription Make Your Dreams Happen. On the front of the journal were the words, The Journey is the Destination. Both sentiments were inspiring.
Although the relationship was about me supporting them, these women had taken the time to find out what was important to me. They knew I was a writer and had thoughtfully chosen a gift to show they cared about my dreams and goals. They even included chocolate!
The blank pages of a new journal remind me of the blank pages of a new year. As the calendar turns to a fresh year, there are new adventures to fill up its pages. Each day is a gift and it is up to me to use it wisely. I chose to put the pen in God’s hands and let him write my story.
“What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.” – Vern McLellan
Lessons From a Birthday Gift
I opened a small box and admired the lovely brooch inside. Many eyes were on me as I was asked if I knew why this design was chosen for me.
Our family has a Scottish heritage and the gift had come from Scotland but I figured there was more to it than that. Focusing on the design in the stone I struggled to see what images were there. My family laughed as I came up with some interesting interpretations.
After a few minutes my son-in-law took pity on me and asked how many thistles surrounded the stone. That was the clue I needed. There were eight, one for each of my grandchildren.
The stone itself was a Heathergem, made from the stems of the heather plant. Basically, the heather is picked, dried, died and then mixed together and compressed. Eighty tons of pressure is required to press the block of stems together. It was incredible to think this lovely stone was once the stems of a plant.
The first lesson I learned from this gift was that sometimes I look so hard to find a complicated solution that I overlook the answer that is right in front of me.
Lesson two was that pressure is not always a negative thing. It is not pleasant to go through times of intense pressure but this stone was evidence that the results can produce something of strength and beauty that would not otherwise be possible.
I need to remember that God can take any situation and produce something good from it. I only need to give it to him and allow him to do his work.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)