With a big sigh I crossed the Costco parking lot realizing again that being ahead of the game would have made today and the coming holiday season easier. I had not yet begun Christmas preparations and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The quiet thought came, "Give Christmas to the Savior." Meaning, I felt, don't stress, trust Him, and He will make it better than you possibly could. That thought was renewing despite the heavy feeling I couldn't seem to shake. A few minutes later I returned to the car with groceries and started loading them in the second seat as I had parked facing out and a large white truck had parked behind me and there wasn't space to open the back. Then a man called out cheerily, "Can I lift your groceries? After all, I parked so close behind you, you can't use the back." I was stunned. Seriously, I was the one who chose to park facing out, primarily causing my own problem, which really was a non-problem, but there he was cheerily helping me with the groceries and hauling my cart back. Waving a thank you, I jumped in my suburban and thought about his generosity and began to cry. His generosity of spirit touched me deeply. Generosity softens hearts and engenders gratitude. Heaven surely must be watching over me already and sending the message, Give Christmas to Me. and I wanted to be generous too.
The next day at Thanksgiving a beautiful table of pumpkin and fruit pies was set out on beautiful plates at alternating levels with silver servers made by my talented niece. You could feel the labor of love just looking at that table. After the meal, my generous sister-in-law encouraged us to take extra pie home. Her spirit of generosity filled and flowed through the kitchen and hearts. Again, I was stunned at the excitement that this simple act of generosity created as some of us contemplated pie for breakfast the next day.
I'm reminded of the simple gifts of notes, rocks and picked flowers my younger children would bring me. They have nothing, they give it all, and the spirit of abundance is present. Generosity is not having and then giving. It is giving and then having.
In rediscovering this attribute of generosity, I define and discover generosity as: a healing attribute that softens hearts. A contagious characteristic born of gratitude. That which when exercised creates abundance.
