Giving It Forward: What Kind of Gifts Are You Giving?
In loving memory of my sister, Jerri Lynn, who fought many life battles and still found ways to give.
Giving It Forward is not a fundraiser, it’s an awareness-raiser. It is about the life-giving value of connection, reaching out, and believing in each other. This year, the focus is on the question, What kind of gifts are you giving?
Do they have value that lasts beyond a fleeting moment? Do they lift and encourage the receiver?
Two Gifts
During a critical and difficult time in my teenage years, two women from church offered me gifts. The first giver was someone who took the time to set up a beautiful classroom and taught beautiful lessons about Jesus. At Christmas, she gave me a small, silver bracelet. Her gifts made me feel good about her.
A few months later, another woman asked me to help her with a dance project. We were supposed to choreograph a simple dance to teach to a group of youth. This very organized and accomplished woman didn’t give me an itemized set of tasks, or even specific directions on how to do what needed to be done. Instead, she asked my opinions—and listened. She encouraged me to connect with my love of music and then find ways to express it through dance.
The time spent with this caring woman helped me tap into the dormant parts of me. For the first time in my life, I felt I had something worthwhile to give. Her gift to me was a sense of self-worth. She helped me begin to feel good about me.
Each of these women’s gifts blessed my life. The difference was that one tuned into me as an individual and was able to give me something I desperately needed. In one act, she offered two gifts: the gift of being seen, and the gift of being needed. Her gifts helped me find the strength to move forward.
What Gifts Do We Have to Offer?
There are as many ways of giving it forward as there are people on the planet. No two of us are the same and we all have gifts—ways to touch others for good—that can enrich our lives as well as those around us. Each gift we give helps forge connections that lift and strengthen both the giver and the receiver.
It is in connection that we find a sense of purpose and expand our ability to create a life we can thrive in. Giving and receiving with open hearts, allows the good pieces of life to settle into the deepest parts of our souls. And giving back with an open heart enlarges our souls and fills the voids in our hearts with joy.
This Giving It Forward campaign is about reaching deeper and finding ways we can use our interactions for good. What kind of gifts are you giving? Sometimes, words of encouragement can calm a doubting heart. A heart-felt, yet simple, thank-you can re-energize a tired friend. Compassionate listening can help a friend feel a renewed sense of worth. Believing in the gifts that others have to give can lift a sinking soul back into the light.
What Can We do?
The best gifts come with being aware of those we come in contact with and finding simple ways to acknowledge and lift each other.
Opening our hearts is key to finding the gifts that reside there. Sometimes it takes leaving our comfort zone. I’m grateful for the youth leader who invited me out of my comfort zone to discover the music inside me and encouraged me to share it with others.
I invite you to join the Giving It Forward campaign:
- Find ways to give in the love language of the receiver.
- Stop to really see the people around you. Make eye contact and listen.
We can be a force for good. Acknowledge the lifting impact others have had on our lives, and Give It Forward.
