Gift of Love

Don’t you just love getting gifts when you least expect them? With my birthday being in mid-August, I thought all my birthday surprises were well behind me, but I was wrong. One of my dearest friends dropped by this past week and gave me the gorgeous quilted table runner pictured above. A late birthday gift. A beautiful gift of love.

The colors and quality of this handcrafted gift make it beautiful all on its own, but it’s especially beautiful to me because I know what a labor of love it was. You see, my friend now has some health problems that make it difficult for her to work on projects like this. Things that she could do lickety-split in past years require much more time and effort on her part now. This gift required sacrifice.

So for me, this quilted gift is not just beautiful. It’s BEAUTIFUL. It’s not just a gift. It’s a GIFT OF LOVE. It speaks volumes to me about our friendship, and it humbled me and gave me great joy to know that she worked so hard on something and then gave it to me. What a blessing. I will cherish it always.

The question for us today is how can we touch other lives with this kind of sacrificial love? What gifts can we give that show the recipients the depth of our feelings for them?

We may not all be able to quilt or make other beautiful handmade gifts (heaven knows I can’t), but we can all give of ourselves in effort and time. Let’s be ready to bless others — maybe even when they least expect it — with beautiful gifts of love. You can bet they will cherish them always.

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement . . .” Philemon 1:7a

*Guess what? As of this weekend, I have been blogging for four years now! Wow, has that gone fast! Appreciate you all!

*My photo

Comments

  1. So beautiful! She is very talented.

  2. Beautiful and in one of my favorite colors! Happy Belated Birthday!

  3. Wow! What a beautiful and thoughtful gift. You have a wonderful friend there, Cheryl! And congrats on four years of blogging! I enjoy your blog immensely, even if I don’t comment on everything.

  4. What a beautiful gift of love!! I so wish I could quilt like that.. The world would be a different place if we all took the time each day to give one beautiful gift of love…Even if that gift is nothing more than “our time”.. Great reminder! xoxxo

  5. My first thought on opening your blog this a.m. was “What a beautiful photo of a beautiful room!” Then, reading the explanation and learning it was the point of your story really capped it off.

  6. THat is an incredibly gorgeous quilt! I love it! And you have my juices flowing thinking about what acts of love I can do for those that mean the most.

  7. Hey gals, I loved hearing from each of you! And Robbie, so glad you’ve been enjoying my blog! :)

  8. Jana, I forgot to mention that your comment about the beautiful photo really brought a smile to my face. I recently got a new and better camera (not super fancy but has real good optical zoom lens and some other features) so I especially enjoyed the compliment about the photo :)

  9. Hi Cheryl,

    I love surprises! What a lovely table runner, and made all the more precious by your sweet friend’s sacrifice.

    I think if we ask the Lord to help us be a blessing, He will show us special ways to touch others.

    Blessings to you, Cheryl!

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