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“Olivia, what would you like me to get you for Christmas?” my daughter Lauren asked her niece.

“I want a pink furry blanket like Adeline’s,” Olivia answered.

As soon as Olivia left, and without hesitation, Adeline folded her pink furry blanket, put it in one of the many empty boxes I have, and asked me, “Lolli, would you help me wrap this for Olivia?”

“Adeline,” Lauren said, “You’re not giving Olivia your blanket. I’m buying her a new one.”

“She wants mine,” Adeline answered. “I’m giving her mine.”

The conversation went back and forth until Adeline was convinced there were many more blankets available to buy, and a new one would be purchased for Olivia.

That scene stirred many questions for me – questions that are challenging me this Christmas season. I’ve been asking myself if the gifts God’s given me are obvious in my life. Do I display and use His gifts in such a way that others want them?

While the gifts He gives us are many and varied, I’ve been focused on love, joy and peace. Do my actions accurately reflect those? Where have I limited my love?

My sister Kay used to sing this song loudly and proudly any time she felt the occasion called for it. “The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay, love isn’t love ‘til you give it away.” How often do I give it away?

One of the many thought-provoking words I’ve read from Pastor Bill Johnson also challenged me. He wrote, “For me, joy is peace out loud; peace is quiet joy. The world is hungry to know what true joy looks like. And there is nothing else in creation designed to model this joy in the measure of Christ Himself, except you and me.”

I want to not only enjoy God’s gifts, but, like Adeline, be willing to share with all who want them, too.

 

Ronny Michel can be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.