gift giving

Sometimes I wonder why we give gifts to people.
Is it that we want to make them feel our love, our appreciation for them? ~or~ Is it because we feel the need to give them some thing?
That may not sound like a big difference, but in the heart of the issue, it is. Do we desire only to make our selves feel good by giving a gift or do we desire the receiver to feel good?

Now "gifts" is not my love language, so for me they carry no special meaning of being loved. For someone who does speak that love language, things are probably different.

I would rather skip the card, candy, flowers and dust collectors for awhile and do something meaningful instead.

Did you realize that this Mother's Day, somewhere, a mother will be devasted by the loss of her child? Do you know that most of the time it could be prevented with fresh water, proper nutrition, or even basic medical treatment?

I would rather know that a "gift" to me was making a bigger impact where it is needed, than cluttering my house with another thing that will sit collecting dust!

Both Food for the Poor and World Vision offer "gift" catelogs that allow such impactful gifts to be given year round. You can choose a donation that will house a family, teach a mother a trade skill so she can earn income, farm animals to provide food and income to a family and wells to provide fresh water. You can give towards something or give the whole thing yourself; and when you do it in honor of someone, say for Mother's Day or a Birthday, the person receives a card that is personalized by you and describes their gift.

How many of us need another box of chocolates? a figurine of some breakable nature and no useful purpose? or a boquet that will die days from now? How many need food? water? shelter? medicine?

Like I said, for me it is no issue not to "get something."
I know I am loved. To me, making one mother's day; the gift of a living child, or the ability to feed your child... that is what would bless my heart most.