Message of the Week - Giving

A wise man once said, "Give without remembering--Receive without forgetting."  A gift with conditions, with strings attached, is not really a gift.

Suzie spent a lot of time making a toy figure out of clay for her friend Tommy. As she was making it, she imagined how good it would look on his desk. When she gave it to Tommy, he said thank you and immediately took it out to his favorite play area and played with it in the dirt along with his favorite trucks and army men.  Tommy really liked his new figure so he placed it on top of a mound of dirt because he imagined it to be in command, above all the other army men and trucks.

Now Suzie was excited, anticipating seeing it on Tommy's desk and was horrified to see it in the dirt! She could hardly hold back her tears of disappointment. When Suzie told her mother about the awful thing that Tommy did, Suzie's mom explained that the joy of giving is really in selecting and/or making the perfect gift. and finally, in the act of giving the gift. A true gift, once it has been given and received has no further obligation and that Tommy was free to do with the gift as he chose. If there are any obligation or "strings" attached to the gift, then it really wasn't a gift.

Later that day Tommy once again thanked Suzie for the figure and explained to her that it was the General and in command of the troops!

Suzie remembered what her mother said; she remembered how much fun she had making the gift and while it wasn't being used like she had hoped, she was glad that he liked it.