“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
I got a new job after being unemployed for nearly five
months. It was a relief to have health insurance again for my daughter and resume
a stable lifestyle. But I never forgot the provisions of three Christmas turkeys
or the mysterious ways THE CREATOR met all my financial needs, and more, that
February. The amazing thing is I ended up with more money in the bank at the
end of being unemployed than at the beginning. A pastor asked me how that was
possible; I really had no explanation.
The lessons of this tribulation stayed with me. It was
another life-changing event. The Christmas giving continued, and I began
donating to a ministry that provided gifts to children of needy families. As my
children grew older, I was donating more money to that ministry than I was
spending on them.
And that is fitting, because this whole thing started with
an image of a child with no presents under the Christmas tree.
At that time, I asked: But what can I do about that?
And my answer now is – I can do this! I CAN DO THIS. I WILL DO THIS.
The Three Turkey Tradition
Sometime after receiving those three turkeys in 1992, I
began giving three turkeys to people in need each December. I didn’t provide
the actual birds. I would get $20 grocery gift cards early in the month and
figure out who they should go to, sometimes sent anonymously.
But then weird things would happen after I gave away the
last card. Within a week or so, I would receive some unexpected money which
coincidently would be slightly higher than the $60 I had spent.
One year, I surprisingly received a check from the IRS for
an overpayment. Another year, the
college where I was teaching part-time had forgotten to compensate me for
training I had received in May. I wish I had written down the other unexpected
December payments that came my way, but I never anticipated I would be writing about
them 20 years later.
And then there was the bizarre poker game in December 2008
that I wrote about last year. I had only given away two gift certificates that
year and carried around a $20 bill to give to the next needy person who crossed
my path. I donated that $20 to a family whose house had just burned down.
Less than four hours later, the poker game began. My luck
was atrocious at the start, and I was soon down to only a couple of chips. I
then got tremendously lucky on some desperation hands and had enough chips to
continue for another hour. But then, my luck ran out again, and I was back down
to almost nothing. I somehow survived sure elimination a second time. I then
fought my way back and ended up in heads up (just two players remaining),
extremely short-stacked (my opponent has many more chips than I do and has a
huge advantage). But my opponent is inexperienced and plays so poorly that I
win the $180 first-place prize. I didn’t comprehend what happened until the
next morning when I realized there was less than a 1% chance of me winning the
game before going on the incredible streak of “luck”..
There were no turkeys given away in 2009. The Great Recession cost me my job. My circumstances were much less dire since my wife was working now. Although, as I have chronicled, I did not respond to the situation well. And for the second time, I came out of the calamity with more money than I started with. Still can’t explain it.
Time To Raise The Bar
And that experience changed my perspective as well. Why limit
it to just three turkeys? So, at Christmastime, I started giving ten turkeys
away. Then 20, then 30, and last holiday season, with the help of my friend
Reverend John, over 70 turkeys. I don’t say this to brag – it’s just a fact for
reference and confirmation of my commitment. Part of Rev. John's turkey haul in 2018
But Don, where did the money come from to
donate all those turkeys?
Well, if you asked that question – or don’t know the
answer, you need to go back to Part 1 and reread the Giving Chronicles.
Because it started with a fundamental truth which is …. One
more time …. taken slowly:
“Give, - freely, generously with a pure heart when you see
people in need of help.
and it will be given to you – you will receive back what you have freely given in
some form of blessing or benefit.
A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap – if your heart and motives have
been pure, you will receive back the value of your gift, and more. So much more,
that it overflows.
for the measure you give will be the measure you get back – the intent, the
compassion, the generosity, the sacrifice of your giving, will determine the
quantity of blessings you receive back.
This concludes the Giving Chronicles
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