When my sister and I were little girls, Mom often sang to us at bedtime before kneeling to pray. One of her songs was:

When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.

I loved the thought of precious jewels, having seen them (fake glass ones) on barrettes, broaches, and jewelry boxes. So one day I asked Mom what the song meant. What jewels?

“You!” she said. “The words are talking about Jesus gathering you and all the other children as precious jewels for his crown.”

It didn’t make much sense but sounded lovely. At a bare minimum it was a stepping stone of little-girl-faith. To be called “a jewel” or “a gem” meant I was precious to Jesus, high praise back then and still today.

To make the jewel idea visible, we think of jewelry given as gifts. Everybody appreciates that kind of thoughtfulness, even though most of us will never be given jeweled crowns. We have been given other things, though, bracelets, necklaces, rings.

Nate had been my gem supplier and took advantage of every opportunity to bless me with modest jeweled items. After his death, though, I didn’t expect anything more. Then came Emerald’s first birthday. After all her gifts had been opened, Birgitta handed me an emerald-colored gift bag and said, “Midge, this is for you.”

Inside was a beautiful necklace with emerald-colored stones set on the branches of a silver tree.

Among other things, her accompanying note (written on green paper) said, “You love Emerald like she’s your own, and that means the world to me! I love you so much, and I’m so grateful for your love and support.” It was a gem-of-a-gift that caught me by surprise and made a big impact.

As I wear Birgitta’s beautiful necklace it challenges me to think about my own gift-giving. Though I can’t go out and buy jewels for everyone I know and love, God has given all of us a book full of gem-like gift ideas we can use. Here are 10 of them.

He suggests we give:

• food to the hungry
• good deeds to the needy
• money to the church
• grace for second chances
• hours of servanthood
• hope to those who have lost heart
• clothes to the homeless
• compassion to the wounded
• encouragement to pastors
• the gospel to those who haven’t heard

And if we work at giving these, just as Mom sang, we’ll all be gathered up as “bright gems for his crown.”

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)