A Partridge in a Pear Tree

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 Our sermon for the third sunday of Advent was on generosity.  How fitting, in the Christmas season, that we take time to reflect upon the giving season, and the time of year when people share and extravagantly bless others.  The passage was 2 Corinthians 9:6-11(ish)  It goes something like this.....

    Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in hhis heart to give, not relunctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written; "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever,''  Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  

With God's help, I hope to write something each day for the next 12 days as the 12 days of Christmas.....my Christmas gift to you.  With God's help I hope to share an example or story of generosity that has been made known to me....so that I can share it with all of you and so that we may together result in thanksgiving to God.  

My first story is about a generous thing that my husband did last night.  Over the years we have acted as host family to a variety of international students who come to town and live and study at the local university.  We agree to be their local family and have them over for meals, support and encourage them, etc.  They often come as 18 year old kids and graduate as mature adults who go on to live marketplace Christian lives of purpose and we are honored to be part of their journey.  We get to experience their food, culture, lifestyles, as well as share some of our own.  One of our host students is Sam.  He came from Korea as a young 18 year old several years ago.  After his third year of college he was drafted into the Korean military and had to suspend his study as a music major and return to Korea to serve his country.  This year he was able to return for his final year of study before he graduates this spring and we were so happy to welcome him back to finish!  He's a grown up now and we don't see much of him.  That is as it should be.  

Yesterday he called me.  He was in a crisis...and emergency he called it.  He was stranded on the side of the road an hour away and his car was smoking.....and he need help.  Could I help him?  Well.  I couldn't do much!  But I called Isaac...and Roger...and between the two of them they made a plan for Roger to get the truck from Isaac....rent a trailer.....finish up what he needed to at work....and go rescue these guys from the side of the road.  The care and detail necessary to make this happen were no joke...and required a tremendous amount of generosity on the part of my husband...as well as his steadfast even tempered nature and ability to stay calm and methodical under pressure.....he was able to be generous with his time, his resources, his patience, his humor and his whole self to put the needs of someone else ahead of his own.  

It took several hours to resolve the emergency and get everyone home safe and sound and the guys involved were beyond grateful......and I can say with certainty that if one day they are summoned out of their work day to help another person in distress they will have everything they need to feel equipped to drop what they are doing and choose to be generous and help.  The gratitude itself is enough to pay it forward.....generosity is a big deal.

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