the best birthday present

Today my beautiful, impassioned, spit fire, deeply compassionate, animal, baby and Bible loving, second born daughter turned five. Chad and I have struggled with how to do birthdays "right" , and over the last six years we have tried a variety of things to teach our children that it is the presence, not the presents of those who surround us on our birthdays that make us rich.  In a world so inundated with stuff, we've tried to hit the brakes a bit.  

Trust me, I struggle as much as the next Mom with the desire to express my love with fleeting things that will make them smile for a moment.  And I will admit that my Pinterest boards are full of amazing ways to create fantasy, memories and amazing family experiences. Frankly though my pinning abilities far outweigh any actual ability I have with a glue gun and pinning has far more to do with me being an exhausted Mom with the attention span of a goldfish thanks to a three month old that nurses 24 hours a day and 3 other little monsters running around dismantling my house at lightning speed than the heart of a crafter (has anyone actually ever pulled off a Pinterest DIY that meets the pictures expectations anyway?)-that was definlty a run on sentence...anyway....

So Chad and I decided to do for our children a Birthday playdate (oh how the introvert in me hates that word) sans gifts,and the family Birthday party with presents (good luck telling Nanny she can't buy her granddaughter a gift!). We've found it works pretty well despite a few confused looks from school friends' parents who likely think we're cruel over-fertile, excessive-child-producing, gift-denying parents.

But this year, Eliya received the most precious gift at her playdate party, a lasting present that will teach her so much about the woman we want her to become, a woman like my friend.  My friend asked if she could give Eliya her horse collection. If you know Eliya she is absolutely enamored with these beautiful beasts.  This collection is very dear to my friend's heart and she had hoped her own children would want to play with them, but they haven't been interested in them. Knowing Eliya's love for horses she decided she wanted her to have them. Watching her gift my daughter with a piece of her heart, and seeing my daughter respond right back and the two of them play with them on the floor together was so beautiful. This is the most precious gift, straight from one heart to another.  A gift that saw her heart, identified with it and gave a piece of her own heart away.

This friend of mine is selling her house, giving away many of her possessions and moving her family to Africa to help transport supplies and goods to remote areas only accessible by plane. She has seen the need, her heart identifies with it and she will give a piece of her heart away for the benefit of others. I know that she and her family are about to embark on the greatest adventure, the adventure I want my passionate daughter to run, the one not weighed down by the things we so easily consume ourselves with but one that flys with the lightness of giving ourselves for others. 

So these horses, so dear to my daughters heart already, will be a story we tell through the years about a woman who also knew that the best birthday present is giving a piece of your heart away. Let us all be courageous enough to do the same.