A Gift of Chocolate
CliffAnn Perry
Have you ever received a gift so priceless you hesitate to take it?
At the end of one of the Children’s Camps in Cuba last month, the children were given a special reward to share within their groups, candy. There was great delight and excitement as each child received a couple of squares of delicious, dark chocolate. Each group got very quiet as the children devoured what was for them a rare treat.
Fay and I were sitting and enjoying watching the children around us. Their joy really ministered to us. A little girl came up to us with a big smile and held out her hands. She had broken her square of chocolate into 3 pieces to share with us.
I knew that this was a special treat, and I didn’t want to take it from her. But in her eyes there was such love and joy to be able to share with us that we couldn’t refuse. The chocolate was good, but the gift was the expression of her heart as she offered it.
I learned more about giving to God in that moment than all of the sermons I’ve heard. A joyful giver’s joy flows out of a love and gratitude that finds its blessing and fulfillment in the act of giving. I understand better what Jesus must have seen in the heart of the lady who gave her one coin.
What a privilege it was to go to Cuba, to offer ministry as our expression of love and obedience to the Father. And what a gift we received as the Father returned to us a gift of love through a little Cuban girl who shared what was so precious to her!
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