\"\"

“We all have different gifts…” – Romans 12:6

I am always amazed and appreciative of the gifts my friends possess. Three stories:

I slept in Saturday morning after the big storm. It must have been around midnight when the rain and wind knocked down the big limb.

Our granddaughter’s car needed a way out of the garage for her to drive back to college, but that wasn’t going to happen, unless I got help.

The text to my tree business friend, the one with the Subaru and a dog, brought a quick reply – “Sorry man, that storm covered us up, I wish you’ve have asked sooner. I’ll put you on the list but it could be a month.”

That wouldn’t do so my reply showed only pictures. I thought about adding one of a coed crying but decided not to include too much drama.

He said he’d swing by; then, two days later, on Monday morning, his crew had my drive all clear. Now the coed could get to her car.

I’m happy for friends with a dog and a Subaru and the gift for working in tall trees.

My shoulders were tight, uncomfortable at night.

My friend, the massage therapist who also teaches yoga said to put down my device. I knew she was right, but what else could I do? I’m glad my friend had a friend with different gifts, maybe her gifts could unstick my shoulders that were stuck.

A quick visit and voilà her dry needles did the trick on my shoulders and brought with them a new friend. My shoulders were the victim and the perpetrator was more than my device. It’s good to have friends with gifts who have friends with gifts.

Running into that little table was painful, I won’t lie. The surprise collision that dark morning took the bark off my shin and it hurt.

I took my damaged leg to a local market with a whole department packed with strange sounding things in tubes and bottles and such. They might be holistic or homeopathic or naturopathic, but that’s another story that we’ll save for later.

Anyway, it was in the market where my friend with the funny hat, who goes to nursing school at night and works at the store in the day, said she could help. She reached for a jar of Manuka honey that had traveled all the way from New Zealand. In a few days I was well and the honey taste great to boot.

I like friends who work all day and then study all night and have the gifts to care for me when I’m hurt. As she would say, “That Rocks!”

These stories each have happy endings because they’re about friends with gifts, helping friends.

It’s always about more than price when there’s a relationship at the center of the transaction.

I’ve tried to think of a gift to repay my friends. What can I do? I shouldn’t climb trees with a chain saw and I don’t think sticking someone with needles would be good. As for pulling jars from a shelf that have strange sounding names, I don’t think that would be wise either.

So until I find something to do, I’ll just keep practicing my gift of saying hello with a smile, welcoming the stranger, and picking up trash. That’s what I’ll do.

What are your gifts? How do you help others? And when you need something done – do you go for the lowest price or do you have relationships aplenty in life?

As always, the conversation starts here.