Accepting gifts graciously

I love getting presents.  Who doesn't?  It's different though, to get a present for your birthday vs. getting a present just because someone wants to give you something out of the goodness of their heart.  Those are the harder gifts to accept graciously.  I always feel obligated to give something in return or say, "are you sure?  You don't have to do that".  As I get older I think I'm getting better at it.  This week I received a few gifts "just because".   The first one was venison.  My good friend and neighbor brought me some great venison.  That was an easy one to say thank you to without arguing.  This weekend we called a friend to wish her a happy birthday and she invited us over to have a bite to eat.  I left with a gift bag.  I know, it was her birthday and I came home with a gift.  Crazy huh?  Earlier in the week I went to a friend's house to return an apron I had borrowed for my Julie and Julia dinner a few weeks ago.  She sent me home with chocolate cake for both me and James.  Again, not hard to accept.  She loves to cook and I love to eat.  Two days ago I walked to an 89 year old woman's house, who I play Scrabble with every now and then, to return a book she had loaned me.  We talked about all the rain we'd gotten and how messy my goats' pen was.  She sent me home with a pair of her rubber boots she'd had for 30 years.  They were perfect.  I asked her, "are you sure?" but I didn't put up too much of a fight because I know she wanted me to have them. 

Not only do I love to get gifts but I love giving them.  It's so much more fun when the receiver is excited and accepts the offering willingly.  I think it's important to keep that in mind when it's offered to me.  If any of you has a gift to give me I'm going to be so appreciative of it and accept it willingly.  So don't hold back.  My birthday is in 30 days but you don't have to wait till then.