About 1.5 months ago, I evaluated a little guy who most
likely has cerebral palsy. He is also presents with mild malnutrition and has
consistent seizures. He has significant delays and at the age of 3 is unable to
sit on his own and has a hard time holding his head up. Mom came to the
evaluation with tears in her eyes because she did not know how else to help her
little guy. They were given weekly appointments for him to receive one-on-one
therapy sessions. About 2 weeks after the evaluation, his mom pulled me aside.
She reached into her bag and pulled out various hairclips. She said “I don’t
have much at my house to give, but I wanted to give something to thank you for
seeing my son”. She had tears in her eyes as she preceded to hand me the
hairclips. She had gone through all that she had searching for a gift for me….a
gift straight from her heart….to show her gratitude. The gift was perfect. Will
I use the hairclips? No. I won’t because they would never stay in my hair. But
this gift was perfect as it was given in a manner that God calls us to give. It
was not about the materialistic item…it was about true, pure, giving from the
heart.
Then, last week, Lala’s dad comes into therapy with little
Lala. He is beaming ear to ear as always. He appeared a little more frazzled
then normal, but was still smiling. I realize that he seemed a little stressed
because Lala was sick…prayers for her. But before he mentioned her not feeling
well, he unzipped his backpack and asked me to look inside. I looked and saw a
ton of corn. He had brought a gift of corn. You see. This is a huge gift. A
gift of food. I have an abundance of food. If I run out, then I can buy more
because I have amazing people in my life that will not allow me to go hungry. I
don’t need food, but Lala and her family NEED food. Instead of using this corn
for his family, he brought it to give to me.
Giving. What does that mean? What is that supposed to look
like? I think we often get lost in trying to find the “perfect” gift. We get lost
in the hottest fad for that season. We tend to get nervous that our gift is not
“good enough” or worried that the receiver is not going to “like” what we give.
We give with adding in a return receipt just in case. All of this is
materialistic giving. Maybe our hearts are in the right place, but I think we
tend to get lost in the true meaning of giving.
The gifts I received were given from the heart…there was no
worry about what I would like or what was “in” at the time. These parents were
giving to me so I can have items; they wanted to express their gratitude. Materialistically
I do not have a lot here. From American standards, I am “roughing it” as I am
typing this from a dark room while charging my phone from my computer while
sweating because it is hot and there is not fan. But I still have so much more
materialistically than these two parents/families. And still, they brought me a
gift….a gift they could use for themselves, for their families, but they chose
to give to me. Would I do the same? Would I sacrifice what little food I had to
give to someone who I knew already had food? I do not know if I would. But this
kind of giving is what God calls us to do.
