A few weeks ago I baked a loaf of banana-walnut-chocolate chip bread that I knew my husband and I wouldn’t finish. As I was waiting for the loaf to cool, I remembered a couple with a new baby that had just moved into my building. I thought it would be nice to bring them a gift of some warm bread.

I began to wage a small war with myself over whether or not that was a good idea. For about 5 minutes I came up with every reason I could think of to not make the gesture- they were allergic to bananas, they didn’t eat gluten, they were too suspicious to eat from strangers, or they might think I wanted something. What if they were pastry chefs or professional bakers? I imagined them having a good laugh over my pitiful little loaf of bread.

Like me, do you ever hold back on being generous? Are you worried that what you have to give is not enough, or that it’s too late? Do you think your offerings will not be needed?

I finally wrapped half of the loaf in tinfoil and walked downstairs to knock on my neighbors’ door. My gift was received with surprise and gratitude and I felt the warm glow of having shared my abundance, even though it was something so simple and small.

This is the season for us to give of ourselves more freely, to hold nothing back and to stop doubting our offerings. It's time to have faith that our gifts are needed now and to believe that others actually want to receive them.