[Note: This is my entry for December's What I Learned From... groupwrite project. The topic is "The Generosity of Others". Hey, you know what? If you're reading this, you have all the requisite qualifications to participate yourself! Imagine that!

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When I think of the many wonderful things I’ve learned from the generosity of others, I can’t help but think of the year 1981…

(By the way, I’ve told at least parts of this story once or twice, so you may or may not be familiar with it. But to my mind – which admittedly is a very strange place – it still bears repeating. It wasn’t really that big a deal, though. After all, it only, um, completely, totally, and irrevocably changed the entire course of my life. You’ll see.)

A Mission to Brazil

Anyway, back in 1981, my church organized what we call a “lay mission” to San Paolo, Brazil.

What’s a “lay mission”, you ask? Well, I can tell you one thing; it’s not where everyone has room to, y’know, “lay down”. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Er, sorry.)

Anyhoo -

No, it’s a term used for mission trips in which regular folks like you or me – laymen, as opposed to, y’know, trained missionaries or ministers - can participate. Typically, those who go on these trips pay all their own expenses – which can be pretty significant when overseas. And therein lay the rub, if you get my meanin’.

During this period in my life (this was back during my Roamin’ Holiday), just about the last thing I needed was to commit way more money than I happened to have on a trip of any kind – much less a mission trip. I mean, it sounded like a wonderful thing to do – and I really wanted to go – but as far as my finances were concerned, there was just no way, y’know?

But one fine day I found myself looking in the mirror (and no, it didn’t fracture!), and I had to acknowledge the flimsiness of that excuse. I mean, if I believed God wanted me to go, then how could I not, y’know, go? I mean, wouldn’t He provide what I needed?

Don’t ask me to explain; I can’t. I just… knew. So now the question was, What to do?

Oh, Ye Me of Little Faith

OK, one of the first things they teach you in Faith 101 is, if you’re going to depend on God to make things happen, you have to, y’know, let Him work. Pretty elementary, right? So I did! (I mean, I still took care of the things I was responsible for, mind you; it’s just that with my current “situation”, there was no way I could come up with the funds to do this.)

One evening I was discussing my predicament with a friend when he made a somewhat – to me, anyway – radical suggestion.

“Hey, maybe you should go see (name of person I knew, but not personally)”, he told me. “He’s pretty well off.” (Note, it was an entirely subjective opinion. Compared to me, everyone was “pretty well off”.) “He could easily donate the money you need to go.”

Now I hafta tell ya, ever since I’d moved away from home after my college days, I’d never asked anyone for a dime. (Please note, I say that not as a point of pride, but in gratitude for God’s grace.) So the idea of walking up to a more-or-less total stranger (we knew each other “from a distance”, if you know what I mean) and asking for a respectable sum of money was, well, to put it mildly, kinda weird.

I thought to myself, Oh, c’mon; why would he do that for me?

Nothing Ventured…

After due consideration (which is code for I thought about it for approximately 32 nanoseconds) I realized there was nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, I decided nothing ventured…, took a deep breath, and went to see the fellow. The thing is, my faith was still a mite weak here, and I was still a little nervous about asking for money. So I thought of a way to sortof sugarcoat it somehow; y’know, make it a little easier to swallow.

See, I knew I could go back to my old job in the engineering business any time I wanted (the engineering biz was pretty strong at that time), so I decided instead of simply asking for a handout, I’d ask for a loan instead.

Anyway, the meeting went well. After I told him what I wanted to do, how much it would cost, and how much I needed (pretty much the total amount), he whipped out his checkbook right then and wrote me a check! Lo and behold, I was suddenly “on my way”! It was a heady moment, I’ll tell ya.

OK; now that I actually had, y’know, real money in hand, I made my commitment official and deposited it with the trip organizers. Talk about excited! I’d never done anything even remotely like this before, so I was looking forward to quite an adventure.

Little did I realize!

Time to Pay the Piper

Now, before I go on, I need to share one last detail about this fellow’s part of the story.

The good news is, after we returned from Brazil, I did indeed go back into the engineering business. Just as predicted, within a few months I had accumulated enough to pay back my generous benefactor. So I gave him a call one day and attempted to arrange a time for us to meet. I proudly had my check all ready for him.

And that’s when he really surprised me.

“Don’t worry about paying that money back,” he told me cheerfully over the phone. “Hey, as far as I’m concerned, it wasn’t a loan, it was a gift!”

Needless to say, I was greatly surprised – and mightily impressed with such generosity! It was like a scene right out of that movie, Pay It Forward!

Just to be sure I heard correctly, though, I asked him if that’s what he really wanted. I mean, I had the money right here in my hot little hands!

He assured me it was exactly what he wanted. “Just find somebody to pass it on to,” he laughed.

Wow! Now that was generosity! His generous gift had provided a way for me to go and do what I knew God wanted me to do. Man, I’m tellin’ ya; I just love how God allows people to be His hands! What a blessing!

I went away, knowing he would reap a wonderful reward for his generous heart.

And yes, since then, I’ve had the privilege of doing similar things for various folks as well. I’m tellin’ ya; it’s a great joy and blessing to be able to give. But (and this is a great lesson), it’s a remarkable blessing to be on the receivin’ end as well.

Believe me; I know.

The Orientation Meeting

Anyway, there’s still a bit more to this story.

The day finally arrived for our mission trip orientation meeting. There were about 45 or so folks in the room, most of whom I’d never seen before. After the introductions of the leaders, a gentleman sitting up in the front was invited to speak. It so happened he was a language professor from the University of Houston.

It turns out that folks going on similar mission trips had discovered the value in learning a bit of the local language. So, based on that information, he offered to teach us enough Portuguese to get by. The lessons would be conveniently held right there at the church, and they would only cost us $40 each.

Not a bad deal, actually, but I remember thinkin’ to myself at the time, Oh, great! Just when I thought my money woes were over, now I needed to scrape together yet another 40 bucks! Sheesh!

As the meeting drew to a close, though, the organizer asked each of us to stand up and say a few words. He also asked us to let everyone know if there was a money need so we could pray for that need as a group. As each one stood and did so, I began to argue with myself.

Now I have to tell these perfect strangers I don’t even have a measly $40, I grumbled silently to myself. What will they think? (Yes, I talk to myself. What’s your point?) It was kinda embarrassin’, really.

Hmm… On the other hand, didn’t King Solomon say something about Pride “going before a fall”? Yup; turns out he did. *sigh* So when my turn came, I introduced myself, swallowed my pathetic little pride, and told the group, “Well, it looks like I’m goin’ to have to come up with a bit more money, y’all.”

And that’s when it happened. The Moment That Changed My Life.

The Moment the Earth Stood Still

About three or four introductions later, a young woman towards the back of the room stood up with a big smile on her face. It was quite a nice smile, really. Almost… mesmerizing, in fact. I couldn’t help but sorta, y’know, surreptitiously stare a bit as she spoke.

What totally floored me, though, was after she introduced herself, she looked straight at me, and with that wonderful smile turned on like a 3000-watt bulb she said, “I’ll be happy to give you the $40 you need for language lessons!”

I’ll never forget that truly amazing moment – as if the Earth stood completely still.

Once again, I was the recipient of an incredible expression of generosity – and once again, from someone I didn’t know. If I had been sittin’ on my horse (if I even HAD a horse) – well I’m tellin’ ya Bubba; I’da fallen right off my trusty steed!

I somehow stammered a mumbled thanks, but to say I was totally flabbergasted is an understatement of gargantuan proportions. In fact, (prepare yourself for a shocker, folks!) I actually had no words at all!

So… I married her!

Yep; believe it or not, y’all, that was the moment I first laid my eyes on the future Mrs. MZM. And to tell you the honest truth – it’s a moment from which I’ll never recover!

The Lesson of Generosity

All right, folks; there’s a lesson to be learned here, if you’re willin’ to accept it. (Actually, there’s ‘waaaay more than just one; but this ain’t a book now, is it?)

The lesson is simple. You know the old sayin’, “It’s better to give than to receive”, right? To tell you the truth, I have no bone to pick with that. But if you’ve never been on the receivin’ end of things, then you’ve been missing the other part of that particular lesson.

See, if we refuse to let someone else supply a need we clearly have, then we’ve done them a disservice by not allowing them to have the joy – and the blessing – of giving. And that’s a cryin’ shame, if you ask me. The fact is, life needs a balance in all things for it to be truly complete, y’know? And it just so happens, giving and receiving are two ends of the same teeter-totter, if you get my meanin’.

Now, next time you have a genuine need, don’t let your pride stand in the way of lettin’ someone else know about it. If you do, then you’re actually depriving others of the chance to enjoy the blessing of helpin’ out, y’know?

AND – now I want you to really hear this part, y’all – you may just be cuttin’ yourself out of an amazing blessing as well!

Help Me Out!

By the way; one final note: That was 28 years ago – and Mrs. MZM says I still owe her $40! Let’s see now… 28 years at, say, 8% interest… multiply by 3… carry the 7… hold on, y’all, while I take my shoes and socks off for this one – I’m runnin’ outta fingers here… Yikes, that can’t be right!

What do you think, y’all? Do you agree?

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As I mentioned up there at the top of this article, this here post is my entry for the December groupwrite project, What I Learned From the Generosity of Others. Hey, you’re invited to join us if you like! Just click on that link and read all about it.

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Photo Credit: Heart with hearts, by Bob.Fornal

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