We will receive!

Recently a friend of mine emailed me after she was given a surprise baby shower for her soon-to-arrive daughter. Originally, she didn’t want any of the hoopla and material stuff of the whole shower scene, but she reflected to me about how wonderful it was to receive such thoughtful and useful things from people who really cared about her joy.

After having two kids of my own and moving through the stage of overwhelm with receiving, I had to respond back to her.

“I'm SO excited that you experienced your friends' joy for you and also got to bask in the delight of RECEIVING. You're such a good giver... sometimes it's difficult to receive. Instead of "you shouldn't have," simply say, "thank you so much" and revel in the delight it gave the giver... Remember how it feels so you can relay to your daughter how very excited the world was to meet her. My daughter's favorite stories are of the gifts she received before her birth... before we knew if she was a girl of boy or what her name would be. "You mean people were happy about me before they even KNEW me?" Yep.”

How do you receive? Comment and let us know.