Today's Advent act is as follows:
Today use the time going from one place to another to wander as Mary wandered. Think of gifts you will give and receive. Often each gift has parts and packaging. From beginning to end, from raw materials to assembly, think of the hands, from all the nations, that made your gifts. Pray for the makers of the gifts you intend to give and those you will receive.My path today was: home to work to Dress Barn to home. That's it. So, maybe I can ponder those trips from place to place. This morning, a gift I received from my husband is just having him in my life! :) He was here today when I woke up, so that is always a special blessing. Likewise, he receives the same from me. Heading to work, I listen to the Catholic channel. This is a great gift for me because it wakes my brain up with interesting perspectives and food for thought. I don't think I give any gifts on my way to work, but maybe I could try to at least smile at a fruit stand vendor once in a while.
Once I'm at work, I suppose the gift I give is my contribution to my company. I try to be responsible, patience, and respectful, and I hope that I lead by example. Likewise, several people in my company inspire me daily with new ways of thinking and coach me with ways I can develop my skills and potential even more. It is a great gift to be part of such a team! After work, I headed to Dress Barn to get a dress for my brother's wedding this weekend. I ended up with four dresses (...and a coverup, some earrings, and a purse). I'm thankful for the wonderful lady named Maria who worked there. She was extremely accommodating and polite, and she called me by my name throughout my shopping experience there. That's something I could add to my list of gifts for others! I'm thankful as well for the relatively inexpensive yet quality selection at Dress Barn. :) I appreciate the people who made the fabric and dresses. So, I'll pray for those people today as well as Maria (and the other lady too, who rang me up and was not particularly as courteous...)
I made my way home for usual evening -- but Mondays at the Pitre household can only mean one thing: BILL NIGHT!! Oh yeah. So, I'm thankful for the people at HelloWallet.com who have created a fantastic cloud application for home finance management. I'm sad Quicken doesn't keep up with Macs, but maybe the change to HelloWallet is good for me. My gift to them, I suppose, is my support and my monthly subscription fee. This Monday night is special too because the Saints game is on in the background. Thank you Saints for playing an awesome game tonight! We are 10 minutes away from winning! Oh, and a lovely gift I received from my husband tonight as well was the dinner he made... or plated... for me. :) Granted, he took the leftovers from the container and warmed them up on a plate, but it was really sweet of him since that's normally my job. I was almost overly excited about it! It probably made my day. :)
Obviously, I'm avoiding any thought process about Christmas gifts because I'm starting to feel the shopping paralysis. I like the way this reflection forces me, though, to think about it. Why we give and receive gifts at Christmas. This year, I really want to put some good thought into my gifts so that people who are anticipating them are pleasantly surprised. I want to support civilly responsible individuals and organizations, and I want to be generous with my gifts to people who love, support, and serve me throughout the year. As I'm purchasing my gifts this year, I will try to remember and pray for those who created the gifts I will give to others and receive from others.
Recap: Think of gifts you will give and receive, and pray for the makers of those gifts.
1. Smile at people.
2. Try to remember people's names and call them by it.
3. Be generous with prayers and giving to those who love, support, serve, and give to you.
BONUS: Be even MORE generous to those who aren't so supportive.
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