The Greatest Gift We Can Give

No shopping required, its not too late to prepare the greatest gift of all. The stores may be closed, your wallet empty and the wrapping paper all used up, but still there is time to give this one special gift.
The greatest gift we can give is the gift of love, of kind words, of a gentle spirit.

As a child I only knew what love and acceptance felt like. My days were filled with hugs and kisses, a mother that had time to play with me, a father that was not so preoccupied with work that he was a stranger, and then there were my sisters, and my grandparents that lived with us. I was surrounded by loving arms and gentle encouraging words. And I still am. It is by far the best gift I have ever received. And one each of us can give to another. If you want to understand the love of God in its fullness, you must first understand what love is.

It was not the gifts wrapped up under the tree that my family gave me at Christmas that taught me about love, but it was their gift of love each and every moment of my life that was the teacher. I could, through their example, through their consistency see that deep and profound love did exist, it was a reality. The love I was shown as a child prepared me for living life as a whole person. Secure to step out and explore life. To embrace it with enthusiasm and not full of unwarranted fear. It taught me how to love my own children, and now I see it being passed on to another generation. A gift that grows and grows when nurtured and given with no selfish intent.

That love, has been the greatest gift in my life and each one of us can give that same gift to someone in our lives. Don't despair if your own childhood was not idyllic, you know what you were missing, find that missing piece and pass on the greatest gift with all the pieces there, nothing missing. Complete and lacking nothing.