Today, I gave a gift. Nothing special really. Fabric layered, sewn together, cut apart, layers cut back, sewn together again in a new way, and made into a pillow cover. An insert was placed inside, and it became a pillow for the couch. The design wasn’t anything original….. just hearts. It was pretty. I gave it away.
Then the magic happened. I gave it to a friend in thanks for a gift she gave me and my family in a time of need. Yes, I know one gift does not necessitate another gift. With this friend, I am acutely aware of this dynamic since we share gifts of prayer and love so freely that we have both lost track of who gave what and when. However, in the making of this gift many, many months ago, she was always in my mind.
I really tried not to give it to her. I sent the pillow off to be sold thinking that my family needed the income. No such luck; it came back. I should have known it would come back to me; I didn’t really want to sell it and especially not for the price set at the boutique. This particular piece of art, a unique pillow of sixteen hearts, had my friend sewn into it all along. She loves hearts, and I kept thinking of her and no one else when I was making it. So no one else could feel themselves in the pillow since she was there first. Of course, it didn’t sell.
When it came back, I knew where it needed to go and why. I gave it to her today. She cried. I cried. It had her and me all wrapped up in it. Giving that pillow to her felt so perfectly right. Something in the universe sighed with the gift and was at peace. We hugged.
The magic continued. I thought it would stop when I gave her the pillow.
Today, she told me that my actions over the years had changed how others treated her. Others had overlooked her, been disrespectful, and acted arrogantly, but my behavior towards her showed them a different way to behave. It blew me away. I was just being me. I didn’t set out to change anyone else. I never knew this about her.
That’s the magic. When we are our truest selves, we can’t help but change the world around us.
So the greatest gift was not what I gave away, but what I received. I was given the grace and encouragement to continue to see people for who they are inside, love them and honor them, no matter what others think or do.
Thank you dear friend and sister for a gift that I can carry with me at all times and in all places. A gift to continue to love and shine and change the world for all of us. I am so blessed. May this gift you gave me come back to you again and again.
