The Joy of Giving

By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins

We recently celebrated the holiday season and most of us were considering “giving joyously.” Perhaps the giving was not limited to just “joyously,” but delightfully, gratefully, passionately, freely, readily, and warmly among many others. We give our time, money, gifts, love, talents, selves, and service. We give to our family, friends, community, career, and business. As educators, we are also called to give in various ways to our students, co-workers and district. There are times when we feel like we have given our all and it is not appreciated, or we give and we don’t feel as if we are getting back. The Bible reminds us in Acts 20:35, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself who said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

How many of us can honestly say that we give without expecting to receive in return? I know that as educators some of us can say that we are appreciative when students’ eyes illuminate because they have understood a concept that we are teaching. Or we are validated when another student says that it is because of us that they are encouraged to attend school. For some reason, most educators believe that we get the best out of students when we give them our best. It is a known fact that education is not the highest paid profession; however, we give delightfully and with grace and from our heart. We put much thought into what we give because we want our students to give us joy through their joy of learning, their wonderful grades, and the memories that they will treasure through the learning experiences in the classroom. We honestly believe that the giving begins with us and we don’t always receive or see the rewards immediately. We can learn from several people who gave of themselves and showed us that there is power in giving. Notable figures like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, Mandela, Marcus Garvey, to name a few, consistently remind us of the strength in giving. We are reminded to give passionately daily, but not just during the holiday season.

Even though, as humans, most of us enjoy being on the receiving end, we have to give in spite of a reward. There are some people (including educators) who I know can say that at some point or another, they have received a gift that they didn’t expect or that exceeded their expectations. Well, it is important to remember that we are still blessed when we are able to say, “Wow, we got paid for all those other days we were giving.”

David Cameron Gikandi sums of giving joyfully when he said, “Give cheerfully and freely. It is the energy behind the giving that matters so do not give grudgingly. The law of cause and effect guarantees that you shall receive plenty for what you give.” Let us encourage each other of to give of our best realize that in giving, we will receive in due time!