"Christmas is about giving!"

While wrapping gifts before Christmas I asked Carter to help me. He would cut the paper for me and then help me tape the ends. He was the label sticker, and he was loving every minute of it. I pulled out a large present to wrap and told him I would have to do this one. He jumped down from his chair and made a mad dash for the living room. I figured that his attention span had expired and he wouldn't be back. I was wrong. He came back to the table with his favorite monster truck, "Blue Thunder" in hand. He said, "Momma, I need to wrap this up for Gaige." A bit confused I asked, why he was giving away his favorite monster truck. He proceeded to tell me, "Momma, Christmas is about giving and I want to give my favorite truck to Gaige, because I love him!"

Okay, typical mother moment... I had to fight back the tears. I was so proud of my son. He was so thoughtful, and at that moment I realized that he understood about the real meaning of giving. I told him we could go to Wal-Mart and buy Gaige a truck just like that one and he could keep his and he told me, "Nah, he can have mine. Jesus wants us to share." As I've said a million times, there is so much to be learned from the innocence of a child. He worked ever so diligently wrapping that truck. Keep in mind, it wasn't in a box. He took the scrap pieces of paper I had cut and wrapped each piece around the truck. There were probably five or six pieces of paper placed around the truck, and heaven only knows how many pieces of tape. Once he had it all patched together, he picked out the best bow, and then filled out the name tag.

That conversation and the simplicity of that small gift gave me a lot to think about that day. Giving... so often we worry about buying the "best" gift, or the most expensive gift. When in all reality, that has nothing to do with it. I thought about how God wants us to give whole heartedly, and with sincerity. My child was an example to me that day. As I wrapped gift after gift, he showed me that we shouldn't look at the "gift", as much as we look at the heart of the giver. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't get out of my head how precious the act of my son was. I then thought to myself about how we give to God. Do we give our entire heart? Do we give Him all we have, or just a little because we are too busy at that moment. When the offering plate passes by us, or we see a charity supporting a church or a person facing an illness, do we give with all our heart or do we just pass by and hope that we aren't noticed? God doesn't care if we give a penny or a  thousand dollars. As long as we give with a pure heart, that's what really matters.

We did not see Gaige until after Christmas so that tiny present sat under our tree all alone for several days. Each time I looked at it, I felt as if God was still teaching me something from it. I challenge myself and you this new year to give your all to God. I'm no saint, I'm not perfect, I fail all to often and find myself humbled before God asking for forgiveness. I want to be a person that has positive thoughts, reaches out to others before doing for myself. I want to be a witness for Him. May others see Him in me.

From the mouth of my sweet child, "Christmas is about giving..." let's reach out to one another this year and give more. You don't have to always give money. You can offer a smile, open a door, invite someone over for dinner, volunteer in a shelter, just give. I'm sure there are blessings awaiting each of us that reach out.

God bless!