The Gift of Verbs

We have the coolest youth group!  During their winter retreat last weekend, they reflected on gifts—not gifts of stuff, but gifts of verbs.  Here’s a sampling:

The Gift: BE

When you help the world become better you become better too.

The Gift: GIVE

The things you don’t want could be the very things someone else needs (like in your closet).

The Gift: NOTICE

Change happens more quickly as soon as we decide to pay attention.

The Gift: LISTEN

Cut out the noise of the ‘now’ in order to listen to the cry of the crucial.

The Gift: ASK

Things change when people start asking the big questions.

The Gift: VOLUNTEER

The giving of yourself and your time is the only truly priceless gift (although Pastor Julie sees this as ministry for us Christians, rather than volunteering, which is a slight but important difference).

The Gift: SHARE

Sharing your dreams invites someone to join you in making them a reality.

The Gift: LOVE

The best way to see the potential in someone is to love them.

Don’t you love the insight?  And I believe we can find hope in our todays as well as our futures with kiddos like this, don’t you?

So if you needed a shopping list for this Valentine’s Day, pick a verb, any verb.  It’s a terrific starting and ending place.

Grace and joy,

Julie