Project 365 Day 196: Surprise

Canon 5D Mark ll, 100 2.8 macro, 2.8 aperture, 1/125 shutter, 100 ISO

It spills over the horizon, like a rim of light over the top of your soul. Anticipation. Expectation. Joy.

This is what happens when you give to others. It is surprising that giving a gift would cause such a reaction, but it does. It is one of the characteristics of the upside-down Kingdom, where giving yourself away means gaining everything. God takes our efforts, be they large or small and partners with us to exponentially give us back more than we ever dreamed.

It is not unlike the anticipation of waiting for a package that you have ordered to arrive. You know something is coming because you ordered it. That is what happens every time you give to someone. You have ordered joy. Joy for them. Joy for you. You can feel it. The air feels different. You have changed the course of how things are into what they can be, just by giving to someone. It’s so fantastically simple, but true. Just like all the truths of the Kingdom of God. So simple a child can understand. So childlike that it is irresistible.

A gift.

On a doorstep.

In a mailbox.

Into the small of a hand in passing.

In an envelope.

Under a pillow.

With a smile.

Tied up in ribbons.

In secret.

Quietly.

With uproarious laughter.

You choose. The outcome is the same. You are the real recipient. Like a child on Christmas morning. And if you make this a habit in your life,  sadness will not light upon for you long ever again.

Luke 6:38 ~ “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”