Give When You Think You Can't

I just love random acts of kindness... both receiving and especially giving them!

The other day at Starbucks I was getting my free coffee (which will end when January does!) and there was a man who's been there a lot lately. From what I can gather, he's middle-aged, doesn't have a job, nor does he have a place to live other than the camper that he drives. When I passed by him, he had a scent of not having bathed for a few days and it seemed he was doing school work on his laptop.

God was tugging at my heart to support him in some way. I decided to get him a Starbucks gift card. Even though I had looked at my finances just the previous night and knew things were tight, even when I thought I didn't have anything to give to this man, I did it anyway.

God blessed it. And He ended up almost doubling what I received in return when a friend paid for something I had anticipated paying for.

This small circumstance reconfirmed for me what I already knew to be true: you can't out-give God. And when you think you can't give anymore, even though you hear God calling you to give more, when you do it, He will meet you there with more blessings to give back to you.

He is, after all, the King of unlimited resources.

The apostle Paul talked about this when addressing the church at Philippi after they had generously given to meet his needs: "I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received... the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Philippians 4:18-20

Finances. Time. Gifts. God gave all of these to us to use appropriately for His glory, and there's so much more where those came from. Give when you think you can't afford to. And watch what God does!

To God be all the glory.

A Starbucks Supercharge... Or Was it Jesus?

During December, Starbucks had a special holiday deal on a SB travel mug which you could take into SB every day in January to get free brewed coffee. Guess what? I received this for Christmas. :) So, taking advantage of this great deal of free coffee gifted to me by my mom, I made my visit to SB this morning.

On my way out of the store, two gentlemen greeted me with a friendly "Have a great day!" and a smile. Had never met them before in my life. Didn't even interact with them in the store, other than that momentary passing by. And yet they saw fit to bless me with those four words.

A gift of God's grace.

It's amazing what even the smallest act of kindness can do.

Starbucks' coffee can supercharge me -- especially considering the crazy amounts of caffeine in it! But this morning my small interaction with those men supercharged me even more.

I began to think, What if my one New Year's resolution were to bless someone with a smile and "Have a great day!" every day? It takes only a few seconds and yet it can speak volumes to another person. It says, "I acknowledge your presence. And I truly hope your day goes well for you."

Those men at SB were like the face of Jesus to me. And in their faces, I saw a reflection of what I want to be. Other-focused. Blessing others. Every day.

That is where the true and lasting supercharge comes from... the infilling of the Spirit of God and His joy as we seek to bless others.
Not from my Starbucks coffee.

"...I will bless you... and you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:2

This is NOT Comfortable!

In the church, we celebrate a season of preparation in the weeks leading up to Christmas, called Advent. It's a time to wait and prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus coming into the world. This year, I decided during Advent to give something up for those few weeks to make a little more room in my life for Jesus.

Coffee. Yes, one of the things I think I can't live without. But I did it because I love Jesus. I wanted to prove to myself that Jesus is really the One I can't live without. Plus, it made me feel the discomfort that comes with waiting for the fulfillment of things you long for.

I tend to try to avoid pain and discomfort.
But what if pain and discomfort are part of God's plan to sharpen us and make us stronger?
To help us identify with the pain of others and be able to minister to them better?
To shape our lives and hearts to look more like Jesus?

I certainly don't want to miss out on that!

It's a choice. We choose to either embrace or shun discipline and training in our lives. And we choose to either embrace or harden our hearts to the pains and hard times that come without asking our permission.

If we allow God to mold and form us through these things, His magnificent beauty will be manifested.

"Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms,
you would never see the true beauty of their carvings."
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross