Tag Archives: generosity

The circle of giving!

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Imagine a place where we passed on our things every day.  We didn’t sit around with full pantries, closets,  or attics, but instead cleaned out and passed on every night before bed.  Imagine the cleansing we would do, and the new opportunities that would arrive right on our door steps!

I am pretty sure I am a break in this circle, but how I would love to mend my broken piece.

Please pray for us my friends.  Please pray that the spirit of generosity will rise up in our souls like a burning fire, and there will be nothing that will quench this desire of ours but to give, give and give!

Affordable comforts?

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Yesterday while I was shopping, I noticed that the price of the lunchmeat I buy had changed again.  It has bounced around quite a bit over the last few months.  Last year I could purchase a package for $2.50 and then a few months ago the price jumped up to $3.20 and since then I have watched as the price has slowly come back down.  Today it was priced at $2.89.  I was pretty happy when I first saw the new and lower price, but as I continued shopping and pushing my overflowing cart past other carts that had 2, 5 or maybe 10 items I started thinking a little more about the drop in the price of the lunchmeat.

I started wondering about my fellow shoppers who have had to pass up the purchase of this lunchmeat for the last few months because of the high price.  These are the people who have had to go without in order to bring back the lower price.  I am sure that they go without more than just lunchmeat, and their sacrifices make my comforts affordable.

Their sacrifices make my comforts affordable.

  • Are these comforts really affordable when they are gained through the sacrifice of others?
  • Is our daily surplus even ours when it is gained through the sacrifice of others?

This is the supply and demand economics of the world economy that we have built and yesterday in the grocery as I watched an empty cart go by it felt backwards, if felt upside down, it felt turned around and it felt wrong.

Lord please help me remember the backs of others that I am standing on the next time I go to the grocery and come out with a little extra in my pocket.  Please inspire Your generosity within my heart, help me to give with Your open hands and help me to remember that no comfort is truly affordable when it is gained through the sacrifice of another.

Remember our true home!

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I am not usually a cynic, but today after spending too much at the grocery I arrived home, checked the mail and found a magazine that had a picture of probably a $5 million dollar home on the front with the article titled, “Love your home!”, and I thought to myself… seriously?  Do the people writing and publishing this magazine really believe that looking at photos of this outrageously extravagant house will help me and others love our homes?  Seriously… do they really believe this?

I took the magazine straight to the recycling box, because I certainly know that looking at it would not help me to love my home, but I have been wondering why it bothered me so much today.  Most days this wouldn’t phase me or bother me, but it did today.

Maybe my annoyance with this magazine is because, as scary as it is to say or to type, in a way it reminds me of my own expensive home, of my own excess, of my own greed, and of my own issues with envy?  Maybe for a moment I forgot about my true home?

Lord please be with me and remove envy from my heart and replace it with Your generosity and gratitude because I long to always love the home You have given to me while I am here, but most of all I long to always remember that You are my true home.

Please help me, I can’t do it without You, my Love.

Help is everywhere!

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Today is my second day of waking up and saying “It is Our Best Life” and already I woke up this morning saying, “It is Our Best Life”, but not feeling it from the bottom of my heart.  Last night after dinner, I lost my temper with the girls.  It seemed like all at once everyone was screaming and crying and I sent all three of them to time out before I allowed them to explain what had happened.  After timeout I gave them a chance to explain.  I then apologized and let them know that I made a mistake.

I was still feeling bad about this when I woke up this morning and no matter how many times I said, “It is Our Best Life”, I just didn’t feel it.

After taking the girls to school, I stopped to pick up G’s pants from the dry cleaner.  I had my $5 out to pay the $4.35 bill and he asked if I had $0.35.  I started rifling through my wallet and found lots of Euros and Canadian coins and finally two dimes.  As I continued searching through all of the crazy stuff in my wallet he said, “This is enough.  I want you to be happy.” and then smiled at me.  I stopped searching and looked at him and said, “I want you to be happy too.”  He then gave me a silent Namaste and motioned for me to take the $1.

When I got back to the car I started crying and thought, what a blessing that a complete stranger wishes happiness for me.  I then said from the very bottom of my heart, “It is Our Best Life”!

I believe it and pray that I can wish for it everyday for everyone!