TUESDAY: GIVE FROM YOUR HEART

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

Mother Theresa

Giving from our heart, for me, means that we are open and honest, and that we gently share how we feel (not just spew out our emotions). We give for the right reasons; we are kind; we have compassion; we care; we do everything with love.

It’s through our heart that we connect with God, so to give from your heart is to give to others as God gives to you—always with love, always freely, and always with grace—even when we don’t deserve it.

Gifts that come from the heart are the gifts that money can’t buy. This could be letters to your parents, partner or children that tell them what they mean to you; how special they are; what you love about them, and much more. Mum used to write me these letters and of course, I would always cry when I read them.

I had them all carefully stored when I moved to the U.S., but one of my greatest regrets in life is that a storage shed I rented was flooded and the company did not let me know. (Be wary of companies who are not members of an official association!) Without my knowledge, that company threw away many of my material possessions, including the most treasured ones, those letters from my Mum. (I am still working on forgiveness!) But at least I have the memory of those letters, if not the actual papers.

After she passed, I was cleaning Mama’s apartment and I found the letters I had sent to my Mum. She had kept them together in a special place in her apartment. You will never know how much a gift of the heart like that will mean to another person. If you have not written a letter like that to someone you love, today is the day! You might feel like you want to write five of them. Wonderful!

A gift of the heart can be sending loving thoughts to a person or holding them in your heart, or something you have created lovingly that they might really treasure or enjoy. It might be as simple as giving your attention (just noticing someone and saying “Good morning” may be transformational for that person.) Try a kind word, a small compliment or a big one!

Smile at someone with kind eyes; send a supportive glance to someone who is being yelled at; write a friend a letter; send an email to say “I am thinking of you.” Send flowers for no reason. Jot down a note that says how much you value the effort someone put in for you, or write a note that tells your child how proud you are of them and how much you love them.

There are a million ways you can be the “living expression of God’s kindness.” Chances exist every day for you to do that.

Today is the beginning of a new life of giving from your heart—consciously and willingly!

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