{give & receive}

It’s that time of year to give give give. Give thanks at Thanksgiving. Give gifts at Christmas time. Give your time to family and friends around Christmas & New Years. But through all this giving do not forget to receive. Receive the love and gifts from your family & receive the thanks that people give you.

Receiving is one of the harder things for me to accept in life. It is hard to accept complements from people, hard to receive gifts when I do not have one to give in return, & hard to receive help from people when I can “do it on my own”.

I just finished a book called “You’re Already Amazing” by Holley Gerth {that I would suggest to anyone – mostly girls}. Through reading that book I came up with 3 different things that give advice on how to make receiving a little easier:

1.    Receiving is risky – in order to receive we have to open our heart, hands, and lives. When we give we are more in control. Receiving feels messy and unpredictable > but it is essential. If you only feel safe when you’re giving & consistently resist receiving, then you may have some fears holding you back from getting what you need. {Try writing down what you’re afraid will happen if you receive}.

2.  Receiving feels selfish – we all have serving, generous hearts. We feel guilty for taking {receiving} from someone else. We “don’t need help” because we do not want to take someone’s time or energy. We bless others by letting them give to us. If we give give give and never receive we will be out of balance between giving & receiving. {Try saying yes when someone offers to help you.}

3.   Receiving feels undeserved – we often do not feel like we have earned what others have to give us. We think of receiving as a reward. God tells us receiving is all about Grace > that’s true for the spiritual aspect of our lives along with every other area. If we wait until we are “perfect” to receive then we will wait our entire lives. We can receive not because of what we do but because of who we are in Christ. {Try resisting the urge to deny compliments and simply say “thank you”}.

Receiving is all about “you” and then at the same time it is not. It is about “you” because “you” are the one receiving whatever is it you may be receiving. It is not about you at the same time because someone is trying to bless you and you will bless them in return if you just accept their gifts.

Have an open heart, mind, & life. Receive all the love, blessings, grace, & joy from those precious people around you and don’t be stubborn {something I can work on}. Give & receive evenly and life will be so much more fulfilling.