Giving More Than Crumbs

I was scrambling to get ready for work. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my children get on the school bus. Two minutes later I saw Annie from next door running toward the bus stop.

Poor Annie. My heart ached. I’d have to tell her she’d missed the bus. I should tell her that I’d take her to school. But the school was three miles in the opposite direction and I was already running late for work.

My mind reeled. I could afford to be twenty minutes late for work. Or could I? If Annie’s dad, who worked second shift and slept late, had to get up and take her to school she’d get a tongue-lashing all the way. I’d heard him yelling at his children many times. But should I interfere in their family problems?

In the end, the selfish chicken in me won out. I let Annie solve her own dilemma and went to work.

That evening, getting ready for a meeting at church, I remembered I was supposed to bring food for the Human Concerns kitchen for the needy. I pulled some canned goods from my overflowing cupboard and tossed them into a bag.

On the way to church I thought, How much of a sacrifice is it for me to give up that food? Most of it is stuff I’ve had on my shelves for months. Who likes canned lima beans anyway? Then I thought about Annie. Taking her to school would have been much more of a sacrifice and a better solution to her struggle than my tossing a few canned goods into a box for the needy. Why can’t you be more giving, more considerate of others in a more personal way? I asked myself.

Have you ever been guilty of giving just the crumbs of your excess? From now on, let’s both try harder to give to others until we can actually feel the loss, and then the redemption, ourselves.

Mom's Amazing Budget

When my mother died at age 57 of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, I never thought I’d survive my grief. I was 33 years old and pregnant with my fourth child. I’m not sure which upset me more, the loss of her daily friendship or the fact that she would never see or know my youngest child, Andrew.
Shortly after Mom died, Dad gave me a box of papers from her desk. Included were her down-to-the-penny household statements for each month during my childhood years.
Every month she paid eleven bills by check: house payment, taxes, insurance, utilities, groceries, etc. The rest of the family income was place in ten separate envelopes labeled: church, school expenses, clothes, gifts, repair and improvement, dues and licenses, doctor-dentist, Dad’s allowance, Mom’s allowance and savings.
The June 3, 1960 ledger states that she wrote $274 in checks. The cash in the envelopes totaled $130. Our family of five was living on $404 a month. In spite of the tight budget, Mother and Dad were giving more to the church than they were keeping for themselves. Mom kept $10, Dad kept $10 and $24 went to the church.
I was stunned. They were giving away more than they kept for their own spending money. I thought about my own life as a young mother. Had I followed in my parents’ footsteps? Hardly. The excuses came too easily. Four children to put through college. A big mortgage. An emergency that might come up. The vacation fund.
As a child I never had the slightest notion that my parents inched their way through life on such a tight budget. Yet every month they gave no thought to doing any less for the church than the absolute maximum that their tiny budget could stand. Maybe that’s why I felt so rich as a kid. Maybe that’s why I should start giving more and keep less for myself. Maybe that’s the secret to overcoming life’s daily struggles. Give more than you think you can afford.