I have spent a lot of time thinking if I had a child and could give her a gift what would I give?  I even wrote a post influenced by Sleeping Beauty.  Since that time, I have had other thoughts on the subject.  Maybe if I could only pick three I needed to choose more carefully.  So I revisit this idea and my old post with some more thought and consideration.

First of all, I think it’s important to have the gift of love.  There are a lot of lost and lonely people in the world.  If they felt true love, love from God first, then maybe they wouldn’t feel so isolated.  Perhaps if we were quicker to show mercy and compassion to each other instead of hostility and mockery those lost souls would have a sense of belonging.  How would our lives be different if we were secure in true love?

Second, the ability to communicate well and articulately is becoming a lost art.  To express our feelings and be sensitive to other’s feelings in the process takes some finesse.  It doesn’t always come naturally.  For most of us, it’s a learned trait.  But too often the healthy learning of this skill is becoming neglected.  Feelings and emotions are left bottled inside only to explode in unhealthy ways.

Third, and this is probably the most important thing to learn, the ability to rise after we fall.  I pray every night for my nieces and nephew and now their children.  My first choice, of course, is everyone to be kept “safe from harm.”  But how realistic is that plea?  If something should happen to any of them does that mean the prayer didn’t work or is it just a symptom of this mortal life?  Bad things are unfortunately going to happen to each of us.  No one will escape this life without a few scars.  So, yes I pray for safety first but I always pray that each one can rise from whatever adversity befalls them because at some point, it will.

Maybe in the end I’m just a greedy soul.  Maybe I just want my loved ones to be able to succeed and three gifts are not enough to get to the finish line.  What three gifts would you give?

Three Gifts