Dear Friends of Longview Chapel,
I was at an Amish store a few years back and buying some bulk spices. The woman at the counter poured some into the container, tapped it on the counter a couple of times, and then pressed it down on the top with a spoon. She did this a couple of times before she was satisfied that she had enough of the spice in the container.
She said something like, “We want to be sure you get plenty of the spice and less empty space.” It made me think of this scripture from Proverbs 11:25:
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
She certainly could have given me less of the spice. Frankly, I would most likely not have noticed, but it was important to her to be sure she shared a “good measure” of what she had.
As we think about the giving we do with our time, talents, and finances, how are we giving? Are we giving a good measure? Are we giving with care?
At one point early in my ministry, I walked with one of the women in the church through the death of her adult daughter in a car accident. Her grief, as you can imagine, was heavy and heartbreaking. A few years later, her other daughter, who had been sick in the hospital, came back home with her and died without warning in her sleep. Again, her grief was hard to carry. We talked. We prayed. We planned their funerals, and we talked and prayed some more.
When my mom passed suddenly, this woman showed up for me in multiple ways, not just in the short term, but in the long term as well. She had hugs just when I needed them. She played grandma to our son and when I was pregnant with our last child, she did several of the things my mom would have done. She helped me make a blanket for him. She came over the first Sunday morning he was home and rocked him as she oohed and aahed over him. She helped me make things from the handwork my mom had left me. Whatever I had been able to pour into her life, came back in abundance to me. Although she passed many years ago, we still have two of her quilts that remind me of the love and gifts we shared.
When we pour out our love and our time and our finances, many are blessed, and oftentimes that circle of giving finds its way right back to us and pours into our laps and our lives.
Celebrating Giving With You,
Pastor Donna