Give and It Will be Given to You

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,

pressed down, shaken together and running over,

will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Luke 6:38

Every year in November, I patiently wait for one particular gift catalog to come in the mail.  It is from Heifer International, a charity that gives animals to impoverished families to give them food, give them the means to supply their own needs (clothing, school supplies), and  give them the means to better their lives.  Recipients are taught how to care for their animals, as well as how to pay it forward by sharing a portion of the offspring with other poor families.

Over the years, I have learned a lot about the animals that are gifted.  I would not have guessed that a goat is the most requested animals by poor families, because it is small, doesn't eat as much as a cow, gives milk (from which one can make yogurt and cheese), and the hair of the goat is used to make clothing.  Alpacas give the indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Andes the ability to make and sell their beautiful fiber creations and escape the endless cycle of poverty.  Heifer International also gives water buffalos, pigs, chickens, ducks, sheep, fish and honeybees. 

If you are not acquainted with Heifer International, you will find them on the Internet at www.heifer.org.  If you have a friend or relative who has absolutely everything, consider giving an animal in their honor as their Christmas present.  The gift of a Heifer animal for an impoverished family is truly "a gift that keeps on giving." 

* 

Though I may speak with bravest fire,

And have the gift to all inspire

And have not love, my words are vain

As sounding brass and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,

And striving so, my love profess,

But not be given by love within,

The profit soon turns strangely thin.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 408