A Work In Progress

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs." Deuteronomy 15:7,8

This is one of those things that I am continuously working on, and have been praying on. I feel like I can really be selfish sometimes. I know I've shared before about being generous with what we have and about giving things away to people who need them. The thing is though, we're not giving away anything we're using at the time. You know, we go through our household every once in a while and get rid of those things that we simply aren't using or don't want anymore. So really, while the things we pass on are perfectly fine and in working order, essentially, we're giving away our junk.

What I have a hard time doing is giving away the good stuff, and that's what I need fixed. We have friends who are the most wonderful example of generosity. They are the type of people who if they are out grocery shopping and if they see that the steaks look good, not only will they pick some up for their family, but they'll add a few extra to their cart and drop them off at a neighbors or a friends for them to enjoy as well. That's the generous spirit that I want. I want a neighbor to walk by and comment on how they love the way a plant looks in my yard, and I immediately dig it up and give it to them. I want to be able to hear about someone going through a rough time, and the first thing I want to do is make them dinner, not think about how making an extra dinner is going to affect the meals I have planned for the week for my family. I want to be able to have company for dinner and send all the leftovers home with them instead of thinking about how I can use all those leftovers throughout the week.

I also want to be more generous with my time. This one is especially hard for me, because I know that time is fleeting. My children are going to be this age only once, and I really hate giving up time with them. Friday evenings and Saturdays have become very precious to us because that is our family time, and when something comes up that takes away from that time,we get really frustrated. I need to be more willing to do- to get out of the house in the evenings and on the weekends to do that which needs to be done.

Lord, please work on my heart and fix what needs fixing. Help me to be more generous- and not just with my money and possessions, but with my time. Help me to have a willing spirit Lord, and not one that's full of grudges. Thank you for the work you've been doing, and will continue to do.