Christian Living

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The Gift Of Giving
© 2007

by

Stephen A. Peterson


Seventeen year old Caroline Leach had decided that hot August afternoon that no one cared about her. “I’m going to kill myself,” she said to herself. Unless somebody this day shows me that they really love me, needs me or can make me feel good about myself, I don’t want to live anymore. People today are all hypocrites and selfish!”

So Caroline sat out to begin looking for the tallest building in Oklahoma City. On her sojourn, she encountered a cyclist hurrying to get to the public library to keep his scheduled time to get on the internet. “Hey, Kid! Get the heck out of the way! Can’t you see I’m in a hurry? Gee! These kids of today!”

While waiting for a traffic light to turn green, Caroline met an insurance saleswoman who was late for her one o’clock meeting. Dropping a quarter, the woman continued on never to say a word to Caroline who picked up the free money to make it her own. Otherwise, no one in downtown Oklahoma City paid Caroline any attention whatsoever. No one acknowledged her existence, it would seem, as she roamed aimlessly from one street to another searching for the tallest building. There Caroline encountered a four or five year old redhead girl who had become separated from her grandmother and whose doll had a disarticulated arm. She asked, “Miss, can you please help me? I’m scared. I can’t find my grandma and my doll is broken. Please help me!” she said tearfully.

Caroline looked at the crying little girl. “What does your grandma look like? What was she wearing little girl?”

“I don’t know! I’m so scared!” the little girl repeated.

“Let me see your doll! You popped off its arm and I don’t think it can be fixed. I’d just get another one,” Caroline said angrily.

“But I can’t,” the girl said. “It’s the only doll I’ve got and my family doesn’t have the money to get me another one.”

Caroline looked at the sad and crying face of this child. Then she looked at the doll. “Well, kid I guess we don’t have any choice. I’ll try to put the arm back into its place.” So for more than any hour and a half the teen and the child together worked hard at trying to put the doll arm back into place. In the meantime, Caroline continued to question the little girl about her grandmother, parents and family.

Caroline decided to stop a police officer to get the lost girl back to her family. Having successfully flagged down a passing squad car, she told the policewoman everything she knew about the child. The child informed the officer that her new friend had fixed her broken doll.

Within the hour, the little redhead girl and her grandmother were happily re-united. Watching the little girl drive away with her loved one, Caroline suddenly realized that she had done more than fix a doll and a relationship. In helping the little redhead girl with her problems, she had completely forgotten her own. On that momentous day, Caroline leaned that giving of oneself is often much more valuable than getting. That giving of oneself is often much more valuable than getting. That there are people all around her that need her help if she is open and ready to give freely and without conditions or expecting an immediate reward in return.

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