I received a note on Facebook yesterday from a young woman we met on our last trip to Brazil. It was great to reconnect after two years. It is wonderful how technology allows us to keep connected over great distance.

What struck me most in her note, was her word of thanks for the bag of marshmallows we left with her family. It brought back great memories of the last day with our new friends and of the entire trip.

We brought a few things from our country that would be difficult, if not impossible, to find in Brazil to share with host families and churches. Things like maple syrup, peanut butter, and marshmallows. It was wonderful to share a part of our culture and say, “thank you,” for the hospitality. The marshmallows were a tremendous hit and the smiles they brought were wonderful. I did not realize the impact they made until yesterday.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about gifts and how we bless others. All too easily we judge gifts by size or cost. We say things like, “It’s the thought that counts,” but typically, we are hoping for more than a thought. The excesses of our holidays, even our daily lives, reveal our attachment to things and their value. I wondered how many people I knew who would be blessed by a 99 cent bag of marshmallows. I wonder if I would remember such a gift two years after I received it. The truth is, my house is full of far more expensive gifts that I’ve already forgotten.

That simple Facebook not really challenges me. It keeps asking me about my priorities and about what truly has meaning. I am wondering how many simple, yet wonderful, blessings I miss every day – gifts from friends, from strangers, even from God. I wonder if the gifts I give are special because of their cost or the value of the love in which they are given.

I know Lent is quickly approaching, and I believe God gave me my focus for this season in the words of a young Brazilian woman. Maybe it is time for the virtue of simplicity to take deeper root in my life as I receive and share the joy of simple things. Maybe all of us could benefit by taking our eyes off of the things we have and share, and looking more deeply at reason we share them in first place.

I look forward to this Lenten journey. Maybe God will inspire you to join me.