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Generous on Every Occasion

We all want to be generous people. We have highlights in our lives where a moment of generosity, whether to us or from us, still warms our hearts.
But, a dream-come-true would be to live in generosity on every occasion!

II Corinthians 9:11 proclaims, "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

It's common to crave a fat bank account to be able to bestow monetary gifts on a whim, but generosity is a condition of the heart rather than a condition of the pocket book.

Acts of kindness can top the list for a generous person. Vickie Hardin Woods has been making a pie every day since she retired and plans to continue this plan for a year. Her recipients include family members, friends, neighbors, former co-workers, and even a stranger. It's her way of expressing kindness to others while staying busy. Her blog called Half-Baked Retirement, features each loving pie story. [ http://vickiewoods.tumblr.com/]

Generosity also includes simple acts of courtesy like holding the door open for someone or being patient in a long line or letting a fellow shopper back out in a crowded parking lot or engaging a fussy toddler while his mother pays at the check-out stand. It's basically thinking of others' needs before oneself. In this area, we can certainly be generous on every occasion.

Generosity is no respecter of age! When you're eight years old, it can be difficult to help out anyone financially. But that didn't stop a little boy after a giant oak tree crashed through his neighbor's house during a storm. The young boy started with what he had and first went to his piggy bank and gave his neighbor $1.25. Then he set up a lemonade stand to raise more money, accumulating $362! The recipient told the reporters who covered the story,
"I lost many, many things that day, but things did not make me cry. The overwhelming kindness of Johnny did." [http://money.msn.com/now/11-amazing-acts-of-generosity]

However, generosity can very well involve money. After all, money represents the commodity that gives us the ability to survive, provide for every day needs or even throw in a simple pleasure, like a free cup of coffee.

Did you hear about "Pouring it Forward" that took place in Canada? A man walked into a Tim Hortons (THI) coffee shop in Edmonton, Canada, and ordered a large "double double" and a Boston cream doughnut and then asked the staff how many large coffees they typically sell in a day. "A lot," the clerk answered. To their amazement, the man said he wanted to buy a large coffee for the next 500 customers who ordered one. He paid $895.28 with a debit card, and walked out. But, the story didn't end there. When news of the incident spread, the country took the idea and ran with it, producing a wave of copycats "pouring it forward" with benefactors from Saskatoon to Chestermere to Calgary. Don't you know there were hundreds of hassled customers who were encouraged when it was their turn to "win" a nice steamy cup of coffee? [http://money.msn.com/now/11-amazing-acts-of-generosity]

From baking a pie everyday for a year, to sharing a smile with a hassled clerk, to organizing a benefit for a co-worker's medical bill or a family at church whose income has been terminated, to setting up a lemonade stand if you are eight years old and want to help a neighbor, to paying the heating bill for an elderly citizen, to buying a cup of coffee for a stranger or lots of strangers . . . generosity can happen on every occasion!

And may each act of generosity bring thanksgiving to God!

Ellene Meece lives in Meeker, Colorado and works with her husband in their natural resource company while running her own online store, Grandma's Treasures Online.

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