Back in 2006, a movie came out called, “The Ultimate Gift,”, starring James Garner as a deceased billionaire who leaves a collection of ‘gifts’ to his spoiled grandson. Each ‘gift’ is actually a task that is intended to result in a life lesson for the young man, with the final task resulting in “The Ultimate Gift.” It’s a great movie. One of the gifts was the Gift of Giving. Let me explain with an example:

I have a dear friend who once shared that she would love to work for a philanthropist where her job would be to give away money to folks who needed it. She has a huge heart and she loves God and people.

One year, as her birthday was approaching, I received an unexpected refund in the mail. Since it was a total surprise, I figured it could become the perfect gift for my friend. So, I went to the bank, cashed the check, divided the amount by 7 and asked for the crispest bills they had and 7 gift envelopes. When I met my friend for dinner to celebrate her birthday, I was giddy with excitement. After dinner, I handed her a small gift bag that included a birthday card, and the 7 gift envelopes. I explained my unexpected refund and told her that her birthday gift was “The Gift of Giving.” She was so excited to see where the Lord would lead her and who she would be able to bless with each of the envelopes. I was elated that God had allowed me to be a conduit for making her heart’s desire a reality, even if only for a little while.

You see, that old phrase that it is better to give than to receive is actually TRUE! If you click over to the link at the top of this site where I explain where the meaning behind my blog name, Living Above the Line, you’ll find this:

“It is in giving that we receive.” ~ Francis of Assisi
“Money is but one venue for generosity. Kindness is an even more valuable currency.” ~ Alan Cohen
“I believe there is a reason that the word, miser, and the word, misery, have the same root.” ~ Susan J Canon

I really believe it!

The thing that brought all of this to the forefront of my mind this evening was a text conversation I had with a young woman in Columbia whom I have never met. You see, as part of the training I am taking to learn some new skills, I was required to create a Facebook business page, also sometimes called a fan page. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted my cover photo to look like but I was clueless about how to turn my idea into reality. During one of the training sessions, the instructor mentioned a service called, fiver, a “Freelance Services Marketplace for Business.” I decided to check it out and submitted a request for bids on my graphics job, explaining what I was trying to achieve. I had several bids and soon settled on an artist who goes by, “jeka_digital.” She seemed excited about my project and the values behind it, so I hired her. And, she did a great job! (if you want see what I’m talking about, go to my page and take a look: https://www.facebook.com/susanjcanon. Oh, and if you like what you see, I’d be grateful if you clicked, “Like.”)

Anyway, my page seems to be getting quite a bit of positive feedback so I sent “jeka_digital” a message this evening to thank her again and tell her it was being well received. We got to chatting about our faith and I asked her if I could pray for anything specific for her this evening. She shared a personal prayer request and I typed up my prayer and sent it to her so she would know what I was praying. I felt so humbled and blessed to have had the opportunity to come alongside this dear sister and share in a brief moment of prayer. My ❤️ is still 🙂ing over the whole conversation…

I want to encourage you today to find a way to give something to someone with no strings attached. You might be surprised by the results.

God bless!