This post is part of the October 2018 Edition of 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes. I hope you”ll join me in seeing where each prompt takes us.
P.S. Just so you know, I’m finding it difficult to stick to five minutes (**) and it may take me longer than the 31 days to finish all the prompts. Not easy for this rule follower!
You can read more 31 Days entries at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com
Love is Meant to be Shared
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 13:34 (NLT)/ Pixabay
Cleaning out my classroom after teaching for 32 years was no easy feat! That’s a long time of saving, creating, collecting, and reusing! It took many short trips to the dumpster and one LONG trip down memory lane!
Deep in the corners of drawers, cupboards, and shelves I found trinkets, artwork, photos, rocks, dried flowers, even petrified candy children had shared with me throughout my career. Precious things that this teacher just couldn’t throw away! In amongst those treasures were also a variety of love notes from my students. Some scribbled on scraps of paper, the backs of old spelling tests, and others drawn with crayons or markers, filling the paper with colorful images. Many letters had no name on them to identify the writer, just the words “I love you” in a child’s print of long ago. These presents brought me joy when they were first given and continued to give again these many years later.
The offering of love is a precious gift. One we should all willingly give. Children seem to understand this better than we adults. My students had it right: a little goes a long way! Having experienced the overwhelming warmth of love I felt as I held each child’s small gesture, I try to be more purposeful in finding ways to show others I care. Maybe it’s as simple as a smile, a hug, preparing a meal, or offering a listening ear. It could also be a gift to someone who leasts expects to receive, a donation toward something important to those I know, volunteering to help someone who can’t do it on their own, or yes, maybe even a writing a simple love note at just the right time.
Opportunities to give are all around us. Our gifts don’t have to be elaborate. They don’t have to take great planning or have a high price tag. The don’t even have to have our names attached to them They. Just. Have. To. Be. Shared.**
In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to throw away those treasured gifts and so they are tucked safely in a special box to be gone through whenever I need to be reminded about how the small act of a big heart will keep giving again and again and again.
FYI: In the past week I’ve come across several wonderful opportunities to share that include:
~Delivering Joy #onejaratatime with Faithfully Following Ministries
~Preparing Christmas Eve Boxes for children in foster care with Boxes With a Purpose
~Sponsoring a student in Bungoma, Kenya who otherwise wouldn’t get an education with Living Hope High School
~Preparing Christmas Shoe Boxes with Samaritans Purse
~Sponsoring a team in the Walk for Primary Immunodeficiency to raise funds for research
I know that you must have others to add to my short list. Please share them in the comments for those looking for new ways to give. And if you’d like more information about mine just jot me a comment too! Now let’s get out there and SHARE!
