Generous gift

It is ironic that I wrote a post yesterday about receiving. (Or God telling us something - depending on your perspective).

Today we were given a Christmas card anonymously that held an extremely generous cash gift inside. All we know is that someone at our church wanted us to have it.

I was moved to tears when opening this card.

There is some maintenance on the car that I have been putting off for months (bald tires - kind of scary now that the rainy season is here) and a long list of bills that need to be paid. We certainly can use this gift!

I think that the lesson I'm probably supposed to learn in this over two years' worth of financial difficulty is that before when I was the guy handing out the gifts and helping to meet the needs of people there was an element of pride involved. Sure it was subtle, and I kept it well-hidden, but I really enjoyed hearing of someone needing something and being in the position to write a check to help out. It made me feel good to be a part of the solution.

Pride gets stripped away when you apply for government assistance or are unsure of which bills you can pay or start thinking about losing your home.

I want to be a gracious receiver. Thank you so much!!! (for this specific gift and the many blessings we have!)