Prayerful Gifts Of Love

1 John 5:14 – This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (NIV)

This year as I planned my Christmas gift for my daughter and her children, I was reminded of the conversation I had with a lady several years ago. "Anna" knew her long battle with cancer was nearly over, and as she reflected on her life and future, she shared, "My only regret is I won't be able to tell my grandchildren I love them."

Her comment planted a seed in my heart, and I started looking for ways to let my grown-up children and grandchildren know that I loved them. Back then, I went home and wrote a children's story, "Grandma Loves You", and made a tape of me reading it for the grandchildren to play whenever they wanted to hear grandma's voice. This year, though, the children are older, and I needed to do something different.

I'm not patient enough to make a love quilt like my mother made for each of her children, and my making-jam-and-jelly skills have not really developed to the gift-giving stage yet. I wanted my gift to be personal — a gift of love. This week the idea finally came to me. In her last move, our daughter lost all the children's baby pictures. Although we lived two thousand kilometres away from them when the grandchildren were small, I still had quite a few pictures. So I have gathered them together and have started making a scrapbook. Although the process is time-consuming, each page is made with love. Every time I finish a page, I say a prayer for the people on the page, and in my heart of hearts, I know God hears my prayer and will answer it someday.

Whether we carefully choose a gift from the store, or make one with our hands, let's use the time we are preparing it to say a prayer for the person who will be receiving the gift. Then it will truly be a gift of love.

Prayer: Dear God, we pray for our families this Christmas, especially those who don't know You. May all our gift-giving be a reflection of love, and help to point our loved ones to You, the One who gave us the best gift, Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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