To: & From:

I like to fancy myself a good gift giver.
She says so humbly... :)
There's something about knowing a person well enough that you know just the perfect gift to give to them; there's something about wrapping it in beautifully decorated paper or a bag and adding a bow just for that special touch. There's a feeling of excitement that comes with handing it to the recipient and seeing the curiosity dance across their face. And then finally, the big moment! Watching them as they open it up to see what is to them, from you.
Priceless.

I'm pretty sure I get this particular trait from my mother. One of her primary Love Languages is "receiving and giving gifts"- that's how she shows and gives out her love. Growing up, we kids would always get meaningful gifts for special occasions and also little trinkets from her for no reason at all except to remind us that we were loved and that she cared.

I've realized lately that as much as I love to give gifts, I'm not very good at receiving them.
If we were to utilize the several, some might call excessive, amounts of psychology class I've taken we could flesh that out a little.
Maybe there's a part of me that feels unworthy or selfish if I take something.
Maybe it feels like charity or pity.
In any case, I fight hard to resist people's attempts at giving me most anything. I've always seen that as my job.
Take last night for example:
I met up with two my favorite people...ever. We went on a driving adventure around Chicago- that's a completely different blog post in itself- and ended up at this wonderful little Greek place in a neighborhood outside of the city. At the end of the meal they insisted on paying. I got anxious and persistent in saying that I was fully capable of paying for my meal, that I could take care of myself.
But dear, sweet Leslie replied by saying, "We're doing this because when we were your age, this is what people did for us. And we're going to do it for you."

I think I've been missing the part of gift-giving that is an expression of taking care of people.
That's my job to do, but it's not only mine.
We are all care takers of each other, that's what we were created to do as a community of people.
I sat in on the chapel service today during my visit to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and during that time I received so many gifts that I never expected.
The service started when the band started singing "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus."
Do you know it?
If you do I bet you just started humming it. Trust me, I know it's hard not to!

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? 
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

 Then we took communion, the most powerful symbol of the ultimate gift there is. 

Communion and the meaning it holds to Christians is a gift that can never be matched and it can never be trumped.

But it is there for us. Wrapped in beautiful paper with a big bow on top.

Taking communion today was like one of those little gifts my mom would leave for me when I didn't expect it. 

It was a reminder to me that it is okay to be taken care of by others, by God. 

And more importantly that it is vital to our nature and well-being as humans to receive care.

The gifts that we are given don't always have to be in the form of a sacrament, though.

They can look like the listening ears of the good friends that we have.

They can look like the young college sophomore who talks openly and unashamedly about her faith with her parents sitting right next to her.

They can look like the curiosity, the unsureness, the questions we hold in our hearts.

They can look like the waves that crashed to the shore of Lake Michigan. 

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

They are all gifts.

Gifts are all around.

We are all deserving of gifts; the gifts from God, to the wonderfully created, special you.