Giving Freely, Growing Richer

Julie Davis shares her thoughts on how generous people have been since Mike's been deployed. Thank you Julie!!


Generous ~ showing readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected; showing kindness toward others


Proverbs 11:24 "One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want."


2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."




Generous acts, when they happen to you - big or small, it can change your life in an instant. A big act of generosity that has happened to me in the last 6 months comes from my Mom (& Dad). She would say, "I'm just being a Mom and coming to help you out." But, I know differently - she is being generous!! My husband's picture hangs on our deployment board at GLCC, and has been there since the beginning of October 2011. We have four small children, and needless to say, being without my helpmate - my most generous and incredible gift from God, is not easy. When we heard of this deployment happening, I called my Mom, and she willingly agreed without hesitation to come out from Washington state to stay with me and the children for two different trips, each for about 6-7 weeks! What an incredible gift of generosity from both of my parents' hearts. These visits have blessed us tremendously, and I truly cannot thank them enough.


Another act of generosity happened when we received the only true snowfall that required some shoveling this year. I was thankful it happened on a Saturday morning, so I could take my time in getting out there to shovel as we didn't have anywhere we needed to be that morning. So I sat enjoying a leisurely start to my Saturday morning when I heard the sound of the shovel scraping my driveway. When I peeked out my curtains I saw our neighbor, (and friend from our connect group at GLCC) out there shoveling my driveway with his children. When thanked his response was "no problem" - it was something very small in his mind, but it made my day so much brighter and lightened my load for the day


Another instance of generosity occurred on Valentine's Day. Through GLCC I met this lady, who has become my friend, with an immediate bond of being military wives it was easy Bless her heart, for paying forward what she said was once done for her. She showed up on my doorstep on Valentine's day with a bouquet of flowers and what I thought was a card. We chatted a few minutes, and she was on her way after giving me a hug. After she left I opened the "card" to see it was actually a gift certificate for a pedicure!! GENEROUS! Such a thoughtful act of kindness, that will be paid forward.


I share these moments of generosity to encourage each of us to stop and think back, and see those moments of generosity in our own lives. Now stop and think of those moments of generosity that have come from GLCC. A sermon that has touched your heart forever (I think those are too numerous to count for me), children's ministry workers pouring Jesus' love into the little ones of the church (yes! yes! yes!), mission work, outreach, music that spoke to your heart, Bible studies, connect groups, a smile, a greeting, a place to call home... I could go on and on... think of these moments, pray about how you can in turn be generous to those around you, and especially to GLCC!! Remember, big or small acts of generosity can make a tremendous impact, so don't for a moment think that what you can do won't make it difference. It will.