The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Earlier this week I posted a picture of my lovely dog and a pile of his hair. He’s part husky; we go through a de-floofing every couple of days. A (dog-wise) friend made the comment “the gift that keeps on giving!” And it was true, as that giant pile of fluff got tossed outside, and I watched birds picked it off the ground to take to their nests.

I was reminded of that today as I was processing a pumpkin. It had been gifted me a few weeks ago. It was a lovely windowsill decoration, and today it got chopped and skinned and prodded. The seeds are rinsed and drying, and will be roasted and ground to seed flour for future baking. The skins were peeled and the flesh is cubed in the dehydrator – becoming treats for the dogs. One pumpkin – a gift that keeps on giving!

There are so many things in this life that follow this pattern; revealing goodness and purpose to us over and over again, often in ways we may not recognise or even understand. The wasted fur providing warmth; the pumpkin skins (and inner goop) adding to the mix in the composter, which will offer nutrients to a future crop. Such opulence, that even what we reject continues to contribute to the bigger picture.

I find faith is like this. We have God’s grace and love lavished upon us, with endless generosity. The infinite goodness that pours over us changes us, if we let it. And we are invited into the cycle of giving, as we extend grace and love to those around us.

“We love because God first loved us.” 1 John 4.19
This love is the gift that keeps on giving. We will never be unloved or unlovable; we are already and always recipients of love. What a gift to be intentional with the love that we give: to those that we love, those we like, those we don’t even know. What a gift of faith to know that the love we extend may also continue to flow in ways unimaginable and unknown to us!