“You can keep a stuffie at your house,” said our three year old granddaughter.

I was touched because, as everyone knows, stuffies are no small thing.

The Angel Bear stuffie (stuffed animal) must be on the pillow or nap time dissolves in tears. The newly acquired Woolly Mammoth stuffie reminds of a special time with MaMa.

Stuffies have a full workload providing safety and companionship, functioning as a talisman to ward off evil and a symbol of love.

Her offer to let go of one of her prized companions was touching because some sacrifice would be involved.

The day had been a grumpy day. She was tired. Getting through the day required her entire posse. As she plodded down the stairs, stuffies overflowed her arms and poked out of her backpack.

I was grateful for her offer.

And I wondered what her spirit had detected in me that required Stuffie Power. To what was she responding? What was she sensing?

Besides being occupied with the routine tasks of caring for her Was I sad? Or angry, grumpy, lonely? She was responding to something, offering a gift that, from her experience, would be a worthy companion through this time.

Her unsolicited offer carried the scent of the sacred.

The Greek word for gift, charisma, grows from the same root as the theologically rich word “grace,” charis, a key descriptor of the character of God.

God gives. God reaches out, often before our awareness of the need for connection or companion.