Blessed to Give

Finding the perfect gift for someone can be stressful. For years I've been told, "'Tis more blessed to give than to receive," but I've found it difficult to really feel blessed. This year, though, I determined to approach my gift giving a bit differently, and I'm realizing what a greater blessing it is. I'm not giving my friends and family anything. Brilliant, isn't it? OK, so I'm not really such a Scrooge. I, personally, have too much stuff...and so does everybody else I know. So, this year I've started giving gifts in the form of donations in honor of special occasions (birthdays, baby showers) to Partners International instead of buying more things for the people I care about. The joy and excitement I feel when I purchase an Arabic Bible for a North African Christian or milk and cereal for a child in Senegal is so much greater than the pleasure that innumerable amounts of stuff could provide. I feel like I finally know what it means to be blessed in giving.