Day 26 ~ Giving to get. a cheerful giver.

To me giving  is trust. Trusting that all your needs will be taken care of.  

I remember when we were first married and started giving to the church. We still had a run down fixer-upper in intown Atlanta. VERY fixer-upish.  

Okay -- it wasn't this bad. But back then I would have looked at this and thought ~ we could make it work.

I was eight months pregnant in August 1993. A very good friend came over and went up into our bedroom. The window unit wasn’t working. There was a bed with a comforter ~ one of those old, flat comforters that one of us might have had on our bed in college.   

“Oh, Jamie.” She just looked at me.    

Funny of all the million moments in a lifetime that’s one I remember. Now the house was my idea and John sacrificed a lot of comfort living in it for 10 years.    

But at that moment I thought, 

“She’s right. I was stupid as hell.”

Here we were living in this house. We both worked and didn’t have enough to pay someone to fix it up. No money for central air.  No washer/dryer. No dishwasher. And there’s a baby on the way.    

When our big Buckhead church had a financial campaign – a guy came and visited us. We were like big givers and we lived in this house with spackel on the walls. For ten years.    

But I really am just stupid that way. (About old houses.)    

Just because you give  – that doesn’t mean money is going to rain down.    

But writing this – it occurred to me – when we sold that house to come to Madison, we had two offers in two hours.    

The purchase price ended up being twice we paid for it. That money allowed us to do things – like my husband starting his own business — that we would have never been able to do.    

So maybe it all it work out. 

Give cheerfully because the Lord wakes you up every morning.    

Not for a new washer and dryer. (Not that I’m knocking the Lord providing a new washer and dryer.)