Tip Tuesday – Use Your Gifts

“Use your gifts” is a figurative phrase that encourages people to use their natural talents. But I interpret “use your gifts” in the most literal sense! I implore you to actually USE any and ALL gifts you have received! In this season of weddings, graduations, and days honoring parents and grandparents, chances are you will get a gift in the next month or two. Please promise me you will use it!

In just the last month, I have seen:

– Never opened, expensive crystal vases and stemware that were gifts to a couple that just celebrated their silver wedding anniversary.
– Gift cards and certificates squirreled away, in large sums, to stores, restaurants, and spas that are no longer in business.
– Fancy, gourmet chocolates and costly spices that are now expired and inedible.
– Fine imported soaps, lotions, and perfumes, never once sniffed, much less used.
– Elegant cloth napkins and table linens still wrapped in the original—now yellowed—tissue paper.
– Designer clothes and handbags with tags still on that are now years old and out of fashion.

Do YOU have any of these things tucked away in your closets or drawers? I beseech you, do NOT “save them for a rainy day.” ENJOY these gifts NOW! Don’t worry that they may get broken, dirty, stained, or used up. Your pleasure in enjoying these things or experiences is why someone gave them to you in the first place, so honor that and use them!

What gift have you been given that you will USE today? Let us know!