Thoughts on Giving...

Giving is good for the soul, right? It's fun to give your husband, friends, parents, siblings that perfect gift that you saw and knew just who to give it to. The conversation napkins with the perfect saying for the Loj...the owl salt and pepper shakers that my sister would die over...anything leopard print or with fur that is right up my mom's alley...the pack of Twizzlers I know Dave will love "just because". Giving is fun.

Giving the Girl Scouts extra cookie money as part of "Operation Cookie" so one of our soldiers will receive a hand written note and a box of Thin Mints as a small token of appreciation for their remarkable sacrifice. It feels good. It makes a difference. A little goes a long way.

A little goes a long way...I've been thinking about that one little part of giving for a little over a week now. Our church is building a church. We are a new congregation and we have been meeting in a commercial building for going on 3 years now. We recently purchased land and will begin building our new church. It is an exciting time, but it's also a time of need. Our church needs THE church, the individuals that are the church, to support this campaign and raise the funds to build our new building that will hopefully stand for generations and reach people in Austin, TX for generations.

Dave and I have been talking about and praying about what we can give. And we hear wonderful praise stories about the amount of money already raised for the campaign and it seems so grand in comparison with what we can give. Until last Sunday when our pastor told us the story of 2 little girls in our church. 6 and 8 years old. They wanted to give to help build our church but they didn't have any money so their mom told them they could go ask the neighbors if they could do any work for them. One of their neighbors told them they could brush his Golden Retriever and he would give them $10 each. So they spent a good amount of time brushing his dog. They made sure she looked really good and then they asked for approval from their neighbor. When he deemed their job had been done well he gave them each the $10 they had earned. They were beaming! And they were ready to give everything they had just earned! Their mom took them up to the church and they were elated as they handed over their earnings to the pastor as their offering.

I cried as he recounted the story Sunday a week ago. I cried because of their joy in giving. I cried because their mom, who I have the privilege to know and be in Sunday School with is raising children who are Kingdom Focused. She's teaching them to work hard, give generously, live selflessly. It's a lesson for me too.

I may not be able to give enough to meet the entire need but I can give something. I can give of my time, my energy, and my resources...and that's exactly what God asks of me. Giving from the heart really is good for the soul. I'm glad a 6 year old and an 8 year old could remind me of that this week. I hope I won't soon forget the lesson they taught me.