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Trouble is Part of the Gift

I heard a story about a boy who gave a missionary a present as she was leaving his village. It was a seashell and she asked where he got it as the village was a hundred miles away from the sea. He said he'd walked to the seashore to get it for her.
She asked why he would go to that kind of trouble. He answered that the trouble was part of the gift.
Thinking back over the gifts I've given over the years and the ones I've received, I realize that the ones that were given with some "trouble" were the ones that meant the most - and they were the least expensive. Among my most treasured gifts are a used book given to me by a friend by a favorite author from a library sale, a rock from my grandson, a seashell from my daughter, a feather from another granddaughter, and a beloved but worn bookmark from a another friend.
Next time you give a gift don't try to give the most expensive gift. Give the one that takes a bit of trouble.
God bless!
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