Giving

On a visit to the local library last week Talitha found Amy Grant's memoir called 'Mosiac'. Talk about a blast from the past! We are the same age and had our first children at about the same age. I grew up listening to Amy Grant and enjoyed reading her musings about her life. We are both at a real interesting stage in life for looking both forward and back.

Her thoughts on giving..............

'The life which gives, multiplies itself; the life which absorbs, destroys itself and others. All nature is build upon the plan of giving. The sun gives its light and heat, the bird its song, the lilac its odour, the orchard yields its fruit for the good of us, the field its grain for the same purpose. If one is not a giver, she is out of harmony with her surroundings. If she makes a Dead Sea of herself, she becomes fatal to anything that seeks life from her.'

My attitude and approach to giving cannot be separated from how I view God and, consequently, my fellow man. Do I believe in God? Do I believe that my needs are met by God? And if He can supply my needs, what about everybody else's?

Trust is doing what you believe you are called to do and trusting that God will provide. But here's where it gets personal: God provides through people. Am I willing to be connected to the people in my world, the people at work, the people in my house, the people I encounter in everyday patterns of living? Am I open to the possibility of my life, my gifts, touching another life? My life touching another, the domino effect of God's goodness rippling through so many other lives, is a powerful, far-reaching concept.

I am challenged by these questions. I can't make a difference everywhere and I can't make a difference for everyone but just like the little boy throwing jellyfish back into the ocean, 'I can make a difference for that one'. My desire is to make a difference for someone somewhere.