It’s always a delight to bless those you love. Now you can increase the pleasure by choosing items with spiritual significance.

Several gift businesses and gift lines born from tragedy or overwhelming circumstances have been turned into ministries by people who have the vision to help others survive what they’ve lived through. Gifts produced by these companies are tools used to encourage humor, healing and remembrance of a loss. And these are just the tip of the iceberg in inspirational products.

HUMOR FOR THE HEART

Sometimes reasons to celebrate are readily apparent; other times one has to look for them, as Sue Buchanan did when she triumphed over breast cancer 18 years ago. Her experience is chronicled in her book, I’m Alive & the Doctor’s Dead.

My daughter, Dana, whose baby was overdue, came over and tried to find a comfortable seat on the couch. As she shifted around, she complained, “This baby is just sitting in here eating and sleeping.”

Her 4-year-old son, Nathan, overheard her and asked, “Does she have a TV?”
–Kayla Kirkland One afternoon, while shopping with my four daughters, I spotted a box of cards that I thought my oldest daughter would like for her birthday. As I looked them over, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that one of my girls had walked up and was standing beside me.

Leaning over, I whispered, “Let’s get this for Ashleigh’s birthday.”

Fervent and Fearless

The first time Louise Laymen heard the voice of her husband-to-be, Lester Sumrall, it was coming from a shortwave radio that was tuned to station HCJB, “The Voice of the Andes,” in Quito, Ecuador. A young missionary, Louise was stationed in Argentina, and she thought this might be the same minister she’d heard about from acquaintances in her native Canada.

Friends had spoken highly of Sumrall, well-known as a missionary, revivalist and author, who had ministered in the area. She became curious and wondered if he would come to Argentina.