The Greatest Gift is Love

A few years ago, I was grieving over the loss of a child that God had placed in our lives for a short time. In my grief, I found myself sitting in the garden at the Cenacle Retreat house. God gently comforted me with the sound of the birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees and then He spoke to my soul. There is a plaque in that garden that says, “The greatest gift is love.” As I numbly stared at the plaque, my heart listened, “Jana, you have given the greatest gift. That is all I have asked of you. It is my turn now.” You see, the child I am speaking of didn’t die. She simply had lived with us for 8 months and it was time for her to return to the refugee camps in the Sahara Desert where she lives.

Prior to her coming, I had been naively excited by the fact that I was going to get to convert someone. The Spirit prompted beautiful conversations with time and her understanding of the English language. She asked what she had to do in this life to be smart. She wondered how I listened to God. She learned who Jesus was. She left us though and I don’t know if she accepted Him. I may never know. And yet, I do know that she felt loved. When I was picking lice from her hair, she felt accepted. When she had surgeries and needed to be nursed, she felt cared for. When we had her hair straightened because it was important to her, she felt beautiful. When we told her she was our daughter, she felt loved.

The beautiful thing is that God keeps His promises. I know from other people who have seen our refugee daughter in the camps that He is continuing to move her heart towards Him. And, I learned from the experience that nothing I do in this life will ever be as important as loving someone. I only have to look at the example of Christ to know this but, I am a slow learner. Recently, God has graciously reminded me that as I do church on Sunday and as I am the church throughout the week, I am to give the greatest gift – Love.