A Gift from the Heart...

Hola!
Today was the last day of school before Christmas break. Today was the day that all my kids brought presents for me. Now remember, most of the kids at this school are from very wealthy families. Some of my students didn't even know what they were giving me. When I opened it, they were just as surprised as I was. Those gifts don't mean a whole lot to me. They're expensive, I'm sure, but not heartfelt. But one girl gave me a gift from her heart. It touched me and brought tears to my eyes when I opened it. It was something very small and insignificant next to the other gifts I received, and she was embarrassed and didn't want anyone else to see what she had given me. But it was by far my favorite gift from my students! Here is the story behind the gift.

This girl's dad has been gone in New York for work for about 2 weeks or so. She has been telling me every day that her dad is in New York and that he is going to get back, "Monday, not this Monday but the next Monday after this Monday." (He was supposed to get back this coming Monday.) She told me she missed him and wanted him to come back. Well, this morning she came into the classroom before school and said, "Miss Metzler, Guess what!!! My dad came home early and I didn't know it! He came home last night!! And guess what he brought me! A big jar all filled with gel pens!!!!..." She was SO excited that her dad had come home early and SO excited that he had given her a bunch of gel pens. Well, I called my students back to my desk one at a time to open their gifts so that it wouldn't turn into a comparison/competition of who gave me the best gift. (Thank you Mrs. Miller for that wonderful idea!!) :) When I called this girl back so that I could open her present she looked a little embarrassed and wanted me to make sure that no one else was around at all. Her gift was an envelope that was decorated very nicely with...you guessed it...gel pen! Inside the envelope was a little note and one of her prized gel pens. Like I said, tears sprang to my eyes when I saw that. Here she was, one of about 4 of my students who even knew what was inside the fancy perfect box they brought to school for me this morning, and she was embarrassed because her gift was so small...but really, her gift was the most "expensive" and the most meaningful to me! That just goes to show once again that money isn't everything. Giving the "perfect" gift or an expensive gift is pointless if it isn't given from the heart. How precious that she was willing to give me one of her gel pens that she loves so much! How precious that she gave from her heart. I need to learn this lesson from her.

Here she is

A gift from the heart

P.S. I'm flying out of Santiago at 1:10 tomorrow afternoon and I'll be arriving in Chicago at 9:30 tomorrow night. (I fly Santiago to New York to Chicago) If you think about me during the day tomorrow, please pray for safety and that my flights will not be delayed or cancelled because of crazy winter weather.