I attended a writers retreat with my critique group in the tall pines of Pine, AZ last fall. One of our members, Judy, owns a house there that she opens up to us for writing, learning, eating, and laughing. Lots of laughing. And eating. And chocolate. Oh, and writing, which of course is our real reason for going. But we also have a spiritual element that makes our gathering extra special. We’re all Christians and we always hope our writing contains the fragrance of Christ.

Our first night together we changed into our pajamas and shared an informal communion service together. Judy read to us from Mark 14:1-26. We talked about the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and how the people gave her a hard time about it. Jesus responded by telling them to “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me…She did what she could…” (vs. 6-8 NIV).

I was so struck by that. First of all, I love how Jesus went to bat for this woman, defending her and her actions. And second, I love that “she did what she could.” It may not have seemed wise or politically correct, but she used what she had (perfume) for Jesus.

What do I have that I can use for Jesus? What do you have? Let’s do what we can with what we’ve been given, whether material possessions, time, talents, or skills. We all have something to offer the world, and that is our gift back to Jesus. I hope He can say of me, “She did what she could.”