gifts

This morning, I read some thoughts from Seth Godin on 'the hidden power of gifts.' There are some great thoughts about giving and receiving. Read his thoughts here:
Seth Godin: The Hidden Power of Gifts

This raises some great questions. Here are a few that jumped out at me:

• Am I truly giving a gift or am I simply exercising my power over someone?
• Is it a gift if I still control how it is used? (a lesson i am learning with my kiddos)
• If I am expecting a return on my gift is it better called an investment?
• If a gift with strings attached is control or marketing what is love with strings attached?
  
• Do I have a hard time receiving a gift because I have inferiority issues?

I love how kids receive gifts. They don't begin thinking of what they have to give to 'return' the gift. They simply rip a gift open and begin playing with it. How do you receive gifts? How do you receive love?

is that fair?

In today’s euangelion reading, I came across the story of the workers in the field. There were workers who began in the morning, workers who began at mid-day and workers who began late in the evening. The ones who began late in the day only ended up working a short time. But the owner decided to give them all the same amount of pay for their work. The workers who had been there from early in the morning were ticked. They didn’t think it was fair that the late-day workers received the same pay for a smaller amount of work. But the owner reminded them that it was all his, and that he could do whatever he wanted with his money.

There are a few things that I was reminded of…
1. We often focus on what someone else has. Which leads us to …

2. Compare with what we have. Which leads us to …

3. Wanting more or wanting them to have less.

Obviously, that is not a very good path to follow. And in reality, we don’t want what is fair – we simply want more. If life was fair, we’d have to learn to live on a lot less than what we have. We forget how little so many in our world live on and how much we truly have.

Here’s a healthier path for us to take…
1. Realize that God is good and provides all we need. Which leads us to …

2. Give what is extra to those who are in need. Which leads us to …

3. Contentment. Life is much better when we are content and thankful.

Which path are you taking?