So a few weeks ago, a speaker named Brad Formsma came to speak at chapel. He spoke on living a life of generosity. Formsma is the founder of a movement called I Like Giving, and a lovely donor purchased enough copies of his book so that every single student could get one if they wanted it. As he was speaking, I felt my insides light up (metaphorically, not literally because that'd be slightly disconcerting), my whole body shouted "Yes!". He expressed some ideas that I've been trying to articulate for a while, and also challenged me once again to live generously, giving freely of what I do have.
Giving doesn't need to be money or material things, and often, in my opinion, the most important gifts aren't physical. For years, I've struggled with being generous with my time. I've always wanted to be the sort of person who invests deeply in others, but busyness has kept me from feeling like I've been able to look up from what I've been doing in order to spend time loving others. This semester, I've been looking at how I can show the people around me that I love them on a regular basis, and it's been incredibly rewarding.
Last week, we had a Corban Alumnus come speak at Chapel, and she talked about "Finding Jesus on Planet Death." The focus of her message was looking for God's hand in things in our everyday lives, looking above our immediate circumstances to the bigger picture that He has in store for us. She used an example from her own life, an incredibly stressful travel experience. A problem with visas led her to a line in the American Embassy in Thailand, talking with someone who was seeking to know more about who Jesus is. If she hadn't looked past the discomfort of her situation and surroundings, she might have missed a wonderful opportunity to be a light.
Her story reminded me of my insane travel story from January. In short, I was flying alone internationally for the first time, got re-routed twice due to weather, I had to stay overnight in a large city with nothing but my purse and a hotel voucher, and one of my bags got left behind in Europe when I came to the US and it was a bit of a messy process to get it back. And yes, that was the sort version. I made it out alive, and significantly the wiser.
Something that struck me as I was in the midst of the insanity is how God used me to show grace and patience to those surrounding me. Each time I was re-routed, I was in a line where the people surrounding me were losing their minds due to the sheer stress of it all. Though their responses to the situation were relatively reasonable by worldly standards, the calm that God gave me was a sharp contrast. Instead of hurling insults and swearing about the situation, I stood and prayed for those around me. God put worship song after worship song in my heart, and it made a lot of difference. The airport staff at the second line was somewhat amazed at the calm I had in the middle of the chaos surrounding me.
My takeaway from all this is that grace is a beautiful gift. It's not something that we can do in our own strength, it is a gift from God to others through us. When we are compassionate and understanding, He is given glory and can transform the lives of people around us.
