The Ability to "Receive"

I don't know what kind of person you are, but I am one who enjoys giving. Even though I don't have much, monitarily, I have a big heart that I try to give away each and every day to someone, through a kind word of encouragement or praise. Everyone loves to receive a compliment or a kind word, and it's truly amazing the way you can change a person's day and even life by simply being kind.

Well, I found this photograph of an old church. It has obviously lived out it's better days and is now in a state of decline and abandonment. Surrounded by a thicket of overgrowth and lost pathways, I look at this photograph and try to envision what it must have been like during it's hayday. I can almost hear the preacher as he stands with firmness and clarity at his podium on his platform, with a small choir behind him, "You must be givers, just as God wants you to be. Give to the poor. Give to the needy. Give to your neighbor, so that God may reward you in His time."

What a wonderful notion to be a giver. To feel that great feeling of appreciation when doing something for someone else. It's what I enjoy doing. Maybe I'm selfish, because I like the way I feel when I give to others.

But every so often I have to learn a lesson about giving. Now what lesson could be learned by giving? Well, that lesson is that every once in awhile I must step back and allow someone else to give and that I must receive.

How do you feel when you receive? Do you like to get what you can get? Or, do you feel uncomfortable, or maybe even that you must immediately out give your giver? All of this giving stuff can get quite complicated if we don't realize a few simple things.

It is of great importance that we all take a moment and step back and realize that if someone wants to give us something, we must be gracious, accepting, kind and sincere. If we go into receiving with the wrong attitude we could very well rob the giver of the blessing that they so deserve by their kind and generous act. Sometimes the best thing that we can do for the giver is to tell them 'thank you' and to truly mean it from one's heart. If we cannot learn to occassionally be the receiver then truly what is the quality of our very own giving?

Think about it. And the next time someone does a kindness for you, look them in the eye, if you can or send them an email and tell them with every ounce of graciousness and appreciation that you can, "Thank you!"