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Receiving Gifts

I have been given many gifts in my life. Gift-giving is an impulse we all share, wanting those whom we love to receive the blessings we are able to give. On this trip to Guatemala, we have been given many gifts by people we do not know, who are appreciative that we work in the United States to raise money for their families, their schools, and their lives.

One gift in particular really struck me. Each of us speakers were given a hammock by people whom we help with food and medicine. They made the hammocks themselves, and each of them takes two days work. They could have sold them in town for two days wages and bought more food for their families, but instead, they gave us them to us as gifts.

"Why?" I wondered. A gift was not required or even expected. A token would have sufficed.

They gave in abundance out of their poverty to show their deep love and appreciation for those who would help them before they even knew them. To work two days on this gift is worth it, for they would easily work that much just to get their family a bit more food, but that is impossible. There is no more food to be had, and no jobs for them to do. This is what it is to be poor in Guatemala. So they work for free, in gratitude that someone noticed that their children were not eating and did something about it. They make gifts because they have been gifted. This is their beauty.

Now I have been gifted by them. I need to pass it on.

Guatemala text