We’ve all heard the phrase, “The gift that keeps on giving.” You may think of a certain product or a slogan when you hear those five words strung together. Recently this phrase has taken on a completely new meaning for me.
I find it interesting that it’s often the smallest, most normal moments of my life that hold the most meaning for me. I recently celebrated a birthday which had me and my husband out to dinner to celebrate. We chatted with a young couple and their brand new baby as we waited, my husband saw someone he knew and said hi, we ordered our food, we joked with the waitress, we ate our food, I got a birthday treat, and we went to pay.
What did we find? A blank screen saying that our check wasn’t ready and that there was nothing to pay. I called the waitress over and explained my concern. She smiled and said, “Happy Birthday, someone paid for your dinner tonight.” She claimed it wasn’t her, smiled, then walked away, wishing us a good night.
The emotion that hit me was overwhelming. Why would someone pay for our dinner? Did they know it was my birthday? Maybe they didn’t and it just happened to be a coincidence. And even more touching was that earlier that day my husband had seen a homeless man and had given him $9.00. It’s not much, I know…but unfortunately we are not always so generous.
As I thought about how my husband had given that morning, and how it had come back to us that very night, I was inspired to give even more – it should only take once, but this had been witness number two for me.
Two you say? About a month and a half ago I witnessed a charitable act on my mom’s part. A woman I know from Peru needed help building her house. This woman is one of the best and most generous people I know despite how little she has, but I didn’t have the resources to help her. My mother, who also knows her, was as generous as she could be.
A sum of money was sent to Peru to help this woman have more than a tin roof over her and her family’s head. Within a day my mother called me and said that her boss had come in and given her a year-end bonus (for the same amount my mom had sent to Peru) and a $2.00 raise.
You can say that it’s all coincidence. I’m sure you’ve heard that, too. But sometimes you just can’t assign that to coincidence’s doing. It’s not enough, but God is. I have learned in countless other moments what blessings generosity brings, and not just with money, but time, too. Be generous - it’ll give back.
