Abundant Gifts

During the sun’s annual trip around our fair and lovely planet, we are blessed with the beauty of our seasons.  This season we are presently in is one that also devotes time and energy in celebrating victories of our year-end goals, the harvest of our efforts and collaborative work and most assuredly we celebrate abundance.  We rejoice in hearth and home and even channel flannel in some regions around the world.  We gather together and we gift one another too! 

It is in the spirit of gift giving that I wish to touch on the abundant gifts of women.  I hope that you will each see how beautiful you really are and how richly abundant your efforts have lifted and adorned lives this past year.  There are so many gifts to choose from.  I’m going to focus on just 7 of these wonderful gifts. One for each day of the week. I hope you’ll enjoy. 

“I am convinced that women are special creatures, true Angel daughters of our Heavenly Father and that they arrive from heaven itself trailing clouds of glory.”

Robert E. Wells

The gift of sensitivity:  Scientists have studied human brains for a very long time. When they have scanned the brains of men and women as they recalled emotional experiences, they discovered that feelings activated neurons in an area of the brain eight times larger in women.  The female brain also detects other’s emotions more accurately. Sometimes in the world we live in being called sensitive is seen as a weakness. But I submit that there is a great blessing in this gift and it should be treasured.  

The gift of nurturing:  Our very fabric of humanity is made up of relationships. As women our relationships are foremost in our minds and hearts.  We often gather and express our concern for the welfare of each other and our loved ones.  This wonderful gift has a ripple effect that touches everyone we come in contact with. It’s built into our very feminine natures from the beginning of our lives. Have you ever noticed how often our arms are full with children, friends, and family offering warm hugs and words of encouragement? That’s not a coincidence. It’s part of our divine design. Use this liberally and often! We want to say, “Look at you being fabulous!” and “You go girl!” 

The gift of learning:  Women hunger and thirst for knowledge the world over.  One reason is because we are the caregivers, and the person family and communities look to for wisdom and compassion. If there is an opportunity to learn more, women are all over it.  We are also the larger portion of consumers, so our knowledge is essential in the planning and execution of daily life.  Lifelong learning promotes growth in every aspect of life!  

The gift of emotional intelligence:  This gift is the ability to think with your emotions.  The expression of, “Can you read between the lines,” is an example of how this works. Women have this gift, and yes, often they are known for it.  Ask any of us if we can remember our first date, our first kiss, the first smiles of our children or how our significant other proposed and the details are so ingrained upon our emotional landscape that often we will correct a story if something is missed or left out of it. 

The gift of femininity:  Femininity is the adornment of humanity and is seen in delicacy, radiance, creativity, and charm. It is experienced by being gracious, honoring ourselves and others, and reflecting light in our behavior and mindset. It’s the very essence of our womanhood. We never need to be ashamed of or try to be something different than what we are created to be. Bonus…. we are divinely designed to be the perfect complement to our male counterparts in every way. That’s worth its weight in gold. 

The gift of a giving heart:  A favorite hymn that we sing in my congregation celebrates this well.  It says “The errand of angels is given to women. And this is a gift that as sisters we claim; To do whatsoever is gentle and human to cheer and bless in humanity’s name”. One of my favorite scholar/authors, Neal A. Maxwell, said this: “When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? Will the great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and neighborhoods be noted? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in Congress? When the surf of centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing and the women of God know this.”  Keep being an amazing women! 

The gift of intuition:  How many times have you heard a woman say, “I just know?” This is because of the deep connection women have with spirit. This is represented in every culture around the world. Have fun this month and gather your own stories together from your experiences and see the vast wealth of this precious gift. It’ll be life changing to take a look at how responding to this inner tuning fork is a blessing.  

Hopefully, these gifts will remind us of the abundance that we can create in our lives and in the lives of those in our care and those we have stewardships with.  May our hearths and homes be bright, and the hearts and minds that we choose to love be better for it.  I am sending extra love and the warmth of a hug to each of you! Our human family is worth embracing.  Let your hearts be open and trust in your divine gifts so that this season will become a present gift wherever you may be.  May abundance be seen and felt in all the corners of the earth because you are there!