Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Joy from Giving

My son gets so much JOY from giving people things.  

I mean true unadulterated joy.  Giving away trinkets makes him happy.

One of our neighbors has recognized this and a she brought over a bag of marbles and said, "John Isaac, I know you like to give things away.  When I saw these marbles I thought you would like to give them to your friends."  He beamed.  She hit the nail on the head.

There's problem with giving away trinkets: usually grown ups don't want his junk.  

We smile and say, "Oh honey, that is so nice of you.  I'm going to let you keep your sticker (or rock, or marble, or candy…)"  

But he doesn't want to keep the trinket.  It brings him great joy to give.  Thrills his soul to be generous.  I have so much to learn from him.

So the next time a child offers you a trinket, could I encourage you to take it and just say thank you?


3 comments:

Andy and Kiara said...

Amen! All three of my older kiddos do this....especially Lucas. Such joy. It is wonderful when others understand and encourage it. :)

John and Pam Majors said...

I was just thinking this morning about the smile on his face when he put the watch on Teacher Aurelia's arm in Rwanda. That was worth the trip!

Sherry Gann said...

Excellent advice! :)

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