When I was a child, it was a common practice among my mother’s friends to pass along clothes that an older child had outgrown. I had a younger brother, so my outgrown clothes went to girls in other families who were a couple of sizes smaller than me. Several families had girls a little older and I was always happy to get their hand-me-downs. It never occurred to me to be ashamed to wear something second-hand. On the contrary, these girls were enough older that I thought they dressed much cooler than I was allowed to. So, wearing their outgrown clothes made me feel fashionable and hip. I still remember being thrilled when I got a plaid two-piece bathing suit from my idol, Tina. I wore it every single day to the public pool that summer. I felt like the coolest 12-year-old in town.
When I became a young mother, hand-me-down clothes weren’t just exciting for my girls, they were a blessing to me. Money was tight and babies grow SO FAST. My older daughter has continued the clothes swapping habit with her friends, as well. With four kids, someone is always outgrowing something.
My friends and I still outgrow our clothes from time to time (to our chagrin). But, we usually don’t hand them down to younger, slimmer friends. We either donate them to a thrift store or desperately hang on to them in the hopes that we will lose a few pounds before the clothes go out of style.
Still, the practice of passing around blessings never has to stop.
Luke quotes Jesus in Acts 20:35 saying, “It is more blesséd to give than to receive.”
The miraculous thing is that when we bless others we still get to keep the blessings we’ve received from God. And, the more we give the more we will receive. Jesus also said:
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38
Centuries before Christ was born, God spoke these words to the prophet Malachi:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Malachi 3:10
Wow.
We don’t have to greedily hang on to the good things we’ve received from God. Even if they still fit, we can share them. Pass them around. Hand them down. Toss them into a crowd like confetti. There’s more where they came from.
God says so.
Laura
A Light for My Path 
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