top of page
Olumide Afolabi

The little gift that made a difference


“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”- Pablo Picasso

In a town called the valley of gifts lived a little boy who was too little to make a difference! Not only was he too little to make a difference, but he had one little gift which was also too small to make a difference!

In the valley of gifts, your gift is your life and only those with big gifts really make a difference. However, this little boy with a small gift had a big dream that neither his little gift nor his little self could make a reality. He wanted to make a difference with the little he had! But how he thought? Peradventure if I share my dream with my many friends and families, they will show me how? But that idea in itself amounted to nothing but disdain and reproof! Yet, he never gave up on making a difference with his little gift.

One day, he heard about a big King with a big dream coming to the valley of gifts, and how much the big king loved little children with little gifts. He heard also that the big King is the giver of all gifts; both small and big! How can I make a difference this time, the little boy pondered? How can I help the giver of gifts make his big dream come true? You can’t, silly, his friends, his parents and the big boys with the big gifts told him; you are too little to make a difference!

You should go see the big king if he could give to you a bigger gift instead! Still obsessed and tortured with his dream of making a big difference, he took his gift and he followed the crowd to see the big King.

The crowd was massive; it was a horde thronging from the seaside to the mountain top. A total of 5000 men excluding women and children came to see the big King. The little boy felt insignificant, he was lost in the crowd for a moment, and so was his dream of making a difference with his little gift. But he didn’t give it up already! He sat in the crowd!

Suddenly, there was a great murmuring in the crowd! Apparently, it wasn’t just the little lad who is in need; the big King who is also the giver of gifts was in need of a gift that will make a very big difference; a gift that will bless the mammoth crowd. The call was made and no one had such a gift in the crowd! So people in the crowd with little and big gifts that couldn’t make such a big difference held unto their gifts. However, our little boy with the little gift took one convincing look at his little gift and one look at the crowd; He realized the emptiness in him when he knew his gift wouldn’t make a lift with so much a crowd. But yet, deep down in his heart, he yearns to make a difference! He took one giant step in faith and ran from the side of the crowd he was sited to meet the big King. He said: big King, I am the little boy with a gift that is too little to make a difference. But all I have is what I am giving, please take it all and use for your great cause!

The big King marveled. He looked at the crowd; he saw so many gifts held back because the owners thought those gifts would not make a difference. He looked at the little boy and smiled, a heart that yearns to give is all that matters, and that is what I have given you kiddo! He blessed the little boy’s small gift and gave it out to the crowd that day! With the poor boy’s five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish, He fed five thousand men and twelve baskets remained!

That day, the valley of gifts was changed forever because a little boy with a little gift gave it all to the big King’s cause. Citizens of the valley of gifts now know that having a big gift is not what matters; it is not in the size of the gift but that of the heart that gave it all.

Your life is your gift, small or big, it only makes a difference when given out! True sacrifice, however, is not in giving big but giving it all!

Comments


Join our mailing list

Thanks for subscribing!

bottom of page