Giving & Gifts...oh, my!

I clicked on over to author, home-teaching-mom, Jody Hedlund's blog today. It was like she has been in my house for the last three weeks! You see, we've been battling illness after illness. We've taught our children to share, but come on, this is ridiculous!!

Jody had a great post today and since I'm fairly new to this bloggy world, I think it is okay to copy and paste a portion of it as long as I link it back to her and encourage you to go read it in its entirety. So after you read below...go over to her bloggy home!


I had a painful sore throat that lingered for weeks. I was exhausted. My children had one illness after another—croup, bronchitis, the stomach flu, high fevers, sinus infection. They only had to be in the same room with each other and the germs would jump with glee off one child and run over the next. All of this within six weeks.

I was on the phone cancelling yet another activity when my friend said, “I’m bringing you a meal and I won’t take no for an answer.”

I stammered, “Oh, I think we’ll be okay—“

“I’ll be over this afternoon. ”

Later she delivered a huge pan of Mexican lasagna, homemade applesauce, and freshly baked blueberry muffins and cookies. And to top it off, she’d stopped by Dairy Queen and picked up small blizzards for each of us.

As I spread out the meal on the table, my daughters looked at everything in amazement and said, “That was really nice of her to give us a meal like this. We’ll need to give her a meal sometime in return.”

“Yes, we can do that,” I started. But then I realized I had a teachable moment not just for my daughters but for myself too. “Actually, Mrs. M. gave us this wonderful meal without expecting anything in return. She wanted to do it because her gift is showing mercy to those in need.”

“Just like your gift is writing?”

“Yes. And when we’re using talents to serve others, we enjoy doing it without thought of reward or payback from others.”

My friend used her gift sacrificially in a way that said, “I want to give to you, not from what I can gain, but because I truly care about you.”

What a great lesson Jody taught her children! Hubs and I have always told our kids never to expect anything in return (including $$) when you are helping someone out. We joke about maybe that is the reason we aren't wealthy people!! ☺

I always felt bad when I would hear of someone taking a meal to a family in crisis when that thought had never even crossed my mind. I need to remind myself that everyone is gifted differently. Because I actually feel guilty I didn't think of it or do it. But it doesn't mean God doesn't nudge me to write the family an email, send a card or pick up the phone and call. I need to stop comparing myself to others. God knows what He is doing when He hands us Spiritual gifts!! ☺