Paying It Forward

Paying It Forward

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this life

if you learn all the right words but never do anything?

Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? 

For instance, you come upon an old friend

dressed in rags and half-starved and say,

"Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ!

Be filled with the Spirit!"

and walk off without providing so much as a coat

or a cup of soup - where does that get you? 

Isn't it obvious that God-talk

 without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:15-17

I have a soft spot for charities; I love the work that Habitat for Humanity does in building homes for folks who work right alongside them to make their dreams happen.   Directly after Thanksgiving, I start looking for the bell ringers from the Salvation Army and can't wait for the Angel Tree people to get set up in the malls. The Society of St. Andrew gleans fields to feed the hungry.  Heifer International offers the opportunity to purchase chickens or sheep for people in Third World countries instead of giving cheap Christmas trinkets to friends.  Smile Train provides cleft palette surgeries for children around the world. 

There was a time. when my children were small, that our family was extremely poor and basically homeless. I remember the thrill I experienced when someone at church or work would slip an envelope in my purse with $5 or $10 in it: a small love gift for them, but an unexpected blessing enabling me to provide a little something extra for my girls.  The Christmas a church chose us as their family in need is a highlight memory of the whole family.  It meant the whole world to receive such a gift, and now, as far as I am able, I am determined to pay it forward.

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Make me a servant, humble and meek,

Lord, let me lift up those who are weak.

And may the prayer of my heart always be:

Make me a servant, make me a servant,

Make me a servant today.

The Faith We Sing, No. 2176