September Pit Pastor	PDF | Print | E-mail
	Author: Troy Wong

Overwhelmed by Generosity

My nine year old has been Jonesing for money for about the last three weeks. He gets $5/week allowance, from that $5, $1 goes to God, $1 goes to savings, and with the final $3 he can spend on whatever he wants. He’s been choosing to spend it all on school lunches lately. Aside: Yes, he has to purchase his own lunch. I’ll provide money for one school lunch and I’ll provide all the sandwich meat and bread and other things that a kid would need to make his own lunch. If he wants to buy lunch beyond that it’s on his dime. Okay, back to the kid. He’s even burned, or shall I say eaten through his savings. He needs money so bad the other day he tried to sell his Los Angeles County Library card! He’s also been trying to manipulate his siblings to make fun of him or better yet choke him so he can collect the fine ($5/verbal offense, $10/choke). Yeah, he needs money that bad.

Saturday we have dinner with my father in law and his girlfriend. She’s a nice lady and is trying to fit in to the family. Near the end of our time together she comes out of her room with six white envelopes. She gives an envelop to each of the kids. In each envelope is a $100 bill.
Stop and think about this, my nine year old has been dirt poor for the last 3 weeks. He’d sell his kidney if knew that was an option! Then KABOOM, he’s got $100. Sunday night, while I’m watching old episodes of The Office on Hulu, he walks up to me with some bills in his hand.

“Here, Dad, take this to church tomorrow,” as he places the wrinkled money on the desk.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s my offering to the Lord. It’s one forth of what I got.”
I count it, it’s $26. I tell him it’s 26%, not being quite the math whiz, he looks at me and says, “It’s one forth. It’s my offering to God.”

I can’t totally describe his expression as he’s doing this, but I’ll try. Here’s a kid who one day ago was trying to pawn his library card and hoping that he’d anger one of his siblings enough to warrant getting choked. His eyes are alive, he’s happy, he’s proud, he’s content. He’s generous and it feels good and it shows. And me? I’m blessed. Blessed almost to tears.

I pull three $5 bills out of my wallet and start to give it to him. I’m thinking he still gets the joy of giving a tithe, but I want to honor his generosity by being generous to him. With his mouth he says a simple, “No, Dad, I don’t want it.” But with his eyes there is a pleading, “No, Dad, don’t rob me of the joy of being generous.” I understand. I put fives back in my wallet and the wallet goes back into my pocket. He tells me he loves me, kisses me then prances to bed. He’s happy. I’m happy. I think God is happy too.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Blessings,
Troy