Ordinary Wonderment

Golden Spiria

Today's Joy: Doing Good Things For Others.

I love it, Reader, when the lessons we learn at church on Sunday morning about God and giving and loving one another spill over into the rest of the day. Today's message was the third installment of Dave Ramsey's video series on biblical finance. It was about giving and the power inherent in wise & thoughtful stewardship of the resources God has placed in our care.

The gist is this: no matter how you slice it, everything belongs to God. The earth, the animals, us, all of our talents and resources--we don't truly own any of it. Everything we have is on loan from God. He has lent us gifts, skills, funds and the breath in our bodies to complete his work. So, in not managing our money and resources properly, we are, in essence, misusing what God has provided. We are not being good stewards.

That is powerful stuff. If it all belongs to God, who are we to deny giving? Who are we to choose not to help others--when He has clearly given us the means to do so? And how could we ever manage His resources effectively if every month we have to choose between paying bills or feeding our families? I keep thinking about the difference I could make in the lives around me if only I didn't have debt hanging over my head. Oh, the ways I could serve if I weren't living paycheck to paycheck!

I left the service this morning and went directly to Mom's house to help her remove the ancient evergreen bushes from her front yard. After attempting to pull them out via truck-power, we resorted to sawing off the limbs and then digging out the stumps. God took pity on our poor, out-of-shape bodies and sent us Joel, the neighbor across the street. A stone mason and very kind soul, he spent the rest of the morning helping us dig out all 9 thick-rooted bushes. In return, he asked only that we help if he ever has a project that needs doing. Tomorrow, I will also bake him some cookies.

It was so inspiring to see this man out there in the sun, sweating and wrestling those bushes out of the ground for people he doesn't even know. What a blessing he was to us.

In the afternoon, we took all the project refuse out to the burn pile at our family farm. While there, I helped Aunt Chef prep some window boxes for her lovely flowers. The family seemed tired from working on the farm all day so I also volunteered to make dinner for everyone. Whipped up grilled chicken with a special marinade and my favorite homemade mac & cheese. It was a simple way to give and gave me great pleasure in the process.

Today was full of hard work, sunburn and big revelations. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Hope this gets your neurons firing, Reader. How can you be a better steward of the gifts and assets that God has provided in your life? What could you do if you weren't hampered by financial constraints?