It’s always a joyful experience being around someone comfortable in their own skin.  Someone who knows how to let their giftings flow.  Today was just such an experience when Ron and I enjoyed an after-church brunch at the home of Darcy and Steve.

Darcy is just one of those women who adds beauty to everything she touches.  Her home and the table were exquisitely decorated for the holidays.  The details on the table were like little special presents, and the food, oh my, our palates came alive and our stomachs overflowed.  Steve kept the fireplace burning, and the rich sharing made our cups spill over (along with the cappuccinos!)

Being around Darcy and Steve reminded me of how beautiful it is when we let our gifts flow and don’t hold back.  So often we’re tempted to conserve, be careful, and not overwhelm others with the gusto we have inside.  Instead of being true to ourselves we allocate our gifts based on what we think others want, instead of what we long to give.

For many years I felt like a pot of boiling water on a stove with the lid on top.  I so wanted to pour forth love as a wife and mother, longed to entertain in a home of my own, felt compelled to write and speak, though no doors were opening.  Many days I felt frustrated and stifled.  Then I came to realize (out of boiling desperation!) that I was the one stifling myself, the one keeping the lid on through my own assumptions of what I could or could not be, do, and give.

So I started flowing. Hosting brunches and baby showers for friends, sleepovers with my friends’ kids, speaking to groups of 4 or 5 in my little apartment.  Wherever and however, I simply let it flow.

I no longer felt stifled, in fact it brought me alive, and out of the “aliveness” new doors started opening.  Energy was flowing, fulfillment was growing, time was passing, and before long, the very things I desired came to pass but before they did, I was ALIVE, full and fulfilled, flowing.

So at this time of year when gifts do flow between friends, family, and co-workers, why not make it a point to start opening up your own floodgates, letting go of whatever holds you back and lavishly giving what you have to give — the flow that is authentically, beautifully you!

Flowing like this doesn’t take as much time, talent, or permission as you think, and someone out there needs exactly what you long to give.  So just like the popular Christmas song, “Let It Snow,” let’s change it up this year and altogether now sing,  “Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!”