Thankful for a Cow

I don’t know how you handle the barrage of “please send money!” emails / mailings / calls that come this time of year. Every year.

But I’ve really been trying to pray for wisdom to know what to:

– Toss without even opening. (I must admit that this is my inclination because we try to faithfully give every month to the ministries we think we should, and dramatic end-of-year appeals tend to annoy me, not motivate me to give.)

– Forward/leave out for Fred with a, “Can we? Should we? How much can we help?” request to even consider giving.

– Give on the spot. (Sometimes, I just think, “Oh! This is a MUST give. Whatever it takes. We’ll find the money. We need to give to this person / family / need / opportunity. Of course, 99% of the time, I still discuss this with Fred. But sometimes (like this week) I have to ask his forgiveness for jumping in and giving without talking with him first. Oh! That’s not wise or honoring of him. But he’s a gracious man and quick to forgive me.)

Reading this post from Carolyn McCulley (“Thankful for a Cow”) is definitely in the middle category for me. (What can we STOP doing so that we can HELP MORE?)

Please do read it and enjoy it. It doesn’t ask for money. It’s just a wonderful story of mercy in a world that is often anything but merciful.

Oh. And it reminds me of my mother-in-law’s passion for helping the poor too. We really love her gift to us pretty much every Christmas of our marriage of “half a flock of chickens” or “a goat” or “a cow” given in Jesus’ name to someone in need.

(People keep saying, “TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO! You must be FREEZING!” when they talk to me. But I’m neither cold nor hungry. And my children have never lacked for clean water. Wealth wealth wealth.)

Thanks, Carolyn, for another great post. And congratulations on your new adventure being a part of the new church plant in D.C.! Very exciting.

Gratefully,
Tara B.