Husband was a college student.  I had graduated and was supposed to be working to help get us by while he studied.  But I was in the middle of a difficult first pregnancy that had forced me to leave the job I enjoyed.  He had had to pick up the slack and work long hours after school every day.  I was at home in a tiny apartment alone and sick.  One afternoon while he was at work, I had a life-threatening reaction to some medication.  Our apartment was attached to the back of a church which employed Husband as a grounds/maintenance man and Sunday School/ children’s club teacher.  Yes, his second job.  As if he didn’t have enough to do already.  But his help at the church was in exchange for free rent.  In God’s providence, a funeral reception was going on in the basement of the church.  Yes, it crossed my mind that there might be another funeral soon – mine.  I called Husband at his work, but my tongue was so swollen that I couldn’t speak clearly.  He knew something was wrong, but he was more than an hour away by public transit.  I stumbled downstairs but had difficulty with the door knobs because my hands were so rigidly pointing backward they were nearly useless.  Once in the basement, one of the women in the church caught sight of me and grabbing me, guided me toward her car.  In no time, we were at the ER and a quick shot put things to rights.  So that day she added to the list of her many good deeds towards us, that of saving my life and that of our baby.  She had been widowed in middle age and lived with her widowed mother who was in her late eighties, lame and nearly blind.  She had her hands full already without a needy, pregnant, sick, broke young woman to care for!  But care for us they both did.  How many delicious Sunday dinners did that dear blind, crippled old lady cook for us?  We were so broke that food wasn’t abundant and we would eat way more than was polite when we went to their house for dinner.  They loved on us, and celebrated with us when our newborn finally arrived healthy and big.  I don’t think they knew how important they were to us, a young couple far from home trying to figure out how to do life as a married couple, and then as new parents.  Their steadiness, wisdom, faith, love, and hospitality got us through some rough waters.  We couldn’t repay them, and honestly, we were fair weather friends to them.  When Husband transferred to another campus out-of-state, we weren’t good at keeping in touch with them.  But I know they are now enjoying the rewards they deserve and someday I’ll be in the strong embrace of those dear ladies again and I’ll thank them and we’ll celebrate together in the place where no one is blind or crippled or sick or lonely or broke.

Think back over your lifetime.  Who contributed to who you are today?  Who gave you their time and interest, thereby influencing you?  Who helped you along your life’s path?  Who showed you loving care?  Who taught you?  Who changed you?  Who encouraged you?  Who was an example to you?  Who gave of themselves to you?

“Freely you have received; freely give.”    Matthew 10:8 

I challenge you to list either on paper or mentally five people who gave to you.  Try to think of people from different periods of your life.  What did they give you?  What example did they set for you?  Have you followed their example of giving to others?  Have you given in the same way to others as they gave to you or did you find different ways of giving but with their same spirit of generosity?  Do you feel that those you have modeled generosity to are now giving to others in their own ways?  

“With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.”  Mark 4:24

Husband pointed out that our experience of hospitality from those kind women probably was a contributing factor (although I didn’t connect the dots till now) to our decision in our middle age to welcome university students into our home.  We were following the blessed example of two loving women who years before had done the same for us.  Just today Husband remarked how enriched our lives have been because of those students who became part of our lives.  We had just received an email from one of ‘our’ international students who we had befriended during his university days and who is now graduated, gainfully employed, married, and the father of a two-year-old.  We laughed heartily at the attached video of his toddler.  Thankfully he is much better at keeping in touch than we were with our benefactors!

“I ask you to receive her (Phoebe) . . . and give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.  Greet Rufus, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.”  Paul in Romans 16:2,13

Some paybacks are in this life.  Some paybacks are in the next.  Many paybacks aren’t from those we have given to, or at the time we give.  But we can be sure there will be paybacks for our giving.

“Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.  But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.  If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.”  1 Corinthians 3:12-14

Here are some questions I ask myself when I give:

What is my motive?  Good things can be done for bad reasons.  I want my giving to be gold, not straw.  My intention?  Do I genuinely want to help the other person?  I want my help to be jewels, not hay.  Is it other-centered?  Have I listened to them long enough to know what they truly want and need?  Or am I giving what is convenient for me?  Am I giving with love and generosity or out of duty?  Am I giving my best?  Or am I giving enough to look good, but not giving a part of myself?  Am I lavishly investing my best effort stretching outside my comfort zone or am I  giving just enough to get by?  Am I giving with my whole heart, willingly?  Or do I feel obligated and forced?  Am I calculating whether I’ll get immediate repayment for my gift?  Or am I freely giving out of a generous heart knowing that my pure intention will be repaid, perhaps not now, perhaps not by this person?  

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”  Luke 6:3