A Life Is Worth a Thousand Gifts

I took this picture while texting my daughter on a recent beach trip. They tease me about my eating habits and I was reassuring her I was making myself a decent breakfast.

As I looked at the photo, I realized it was a snapshot of a life. It's also been a year since I was in this same condo and took a similar picture while working on my book. A lot can happen in a year.

Back to the photo...

We surround ourselves with the things we love. My reservation was for a week so I took books, chocolate, tea, coffee, Bible, devotion books, my pillow, and a new favorite blanket given to me at Christmas. I had notepads to record all the thoughts swimming around in my head. And what would I do without my Mac Air? It faithfully stores all my words and spits out most anything I want to know.

I did get lonely though, by the end of the week. We were made for human connection, for relationship. It's in our DNA.

I was able to focus on a few things I want to do better for the new year. I watched a series from Ann Voskamp, based on her book, "One Thousand Gifts." I'd read the book and have been keeping a "Thankful Journal" for awhile. I thought the DVD's would be repetitious of the book, but I was wrong. Ann brought so much of herself into the production. Each session was meaningful, but the last part of the last session caught my attention. She was talking about service and said,

"Your life could be the gift."

As I looked at the photo that morning, I thought to myself, "Is this a picture of my life? Am I being a gift?"

I want my writing to be a gift to Him. I want my service at church to be a gift to Him, and I want my relationships with people to be a gift. I want to be more intentional with the ones God brings into my path.

How about you? What's in the snapshot of your life? If you were to take a photo of your immediate surroundings, what would be in it?

Some of the clutter will be put aside as the seasons change and winter fades into spring. The books will change as I devour them and move on to the next. The one constant in my life is the one thing that matters most and it can't be found in the picture. That thing is the condition of my heart. I can't be a gift if my heart isn't in it. The only way I can be a gift is to stay connected to the giver of all good gifts, Jesus Christ.

Then, and only then, do I have a gift to give.

Cindy