The Sweets Have Spoken by Emily Owen

'I bought him some sweets with my own money.'
I was at a friend’s house last week, and her seven-year-old daughter told me about her daddy’s birthday. 
The emphasis in her sentence was definitely placed on ‘with my own money.’
She was so glad that she’d been able to give something of hers to please her dad.
Above the fireplace was a selection of birthday cards.  She pointed one out to me: 
‘I made him that one’.  
Her card was one among many. Bigger ones. Shinier ones. Yet she didn’t point out the others.  

‘I made him that one.'

In comparison with her dad’s other gifts, sweets may have seemed small.  
In comparison with her dad’s other cards, maybe hers was smaller and less shiny.
But hers were precious.
Because they were given with a heartful of love.  
I could see that.

I was reminded of the story of the widow’s offering, Mark 12.
To an onlooker at the temple scene, rich people were giving a lot of money, and a woman was giving two small coins.
To the woman, she was glad to give what she could.
‘She, out of her poverty, put in everything' (v 44).

The woman didn’t compare.  She didn’t think, in the face of all the people around her, that what she had to offer was not worth it. 
She didn't think everyone else was doing a better 'giving job' than she was.
No one else could give what she gave.
And Jesus noticed her.  
Jesus is the the one who said, ‘She, out of her poverty, put in everything’.

Sometimes, the book world can be overwhelming.  There are so many books out there!  And of course it’s good to celebrate that.  But, in the midst of it, let’s not forget that what we have to offer has value, too.  Ok, we may not have written multi-million copy best-sellers (speaking for myself there), but Jesus still notices what we give.  

And isn’t He the One we do it for?

‘I bought him some sweets with my own money.’
She was right.  It was her money.  
But only because her dad had given it to her in the first place.

When we write, when we offer our words to be used by Him, we can only do so because He’s placed them within us.
And He’s not placed them within anyone else.  

No one else can give what you give.
No one else can give what I give.

Sometimes we feel poor.  
Empty.  
Words have all but dried up. 

Give them anyway.

‘She, out of her poverty, put in everything’.
Jesus notices.

Keep going.
Keep giving.
Whatever you have to give.
Know that it's precious.
And give it with a heartful of love.

‘I bought him some sweets with my own money.’
‘She, out of her poverty, put in everything.'