When John asked for people to come forward to take an envelope, I was almost sure I wouldn’t be walking away with one. It just seemed completely out of character for me to do something so bold. But as I sat there praying for the people who took envelopes, God really put it on my heart to take one. I had been praying for the past couple of months that God would use me as a vessel to serve him and I thought this sounded like a good opportunity.My first thought about getting the money was like “Wow, I could really change lives with this.” But little did I know that God was changing and working in me.
Each day since I got the envelope I had been consistently in prayer, hoping that God would show me right away who he was wanting me to give the money to. (You must understand I am a very organized sort of person who likes to get things done in a very timely fashion). Day after day went by and I was getting nervous because a week had already passed and I had not given the money away. I was getting frustrated, but the Lord was telling me to wait and be patient and that he would reveal who he wanted me to give to in his time.
The weekend came around and I was with a friend at a restaurant. We noticed that he was looking around the garbage for scraps of food and was hungry. My friend asked me if I had had given away the money from the purple envelope and I felt like this was the right time to give part of the money. I bought the man a gift card to the restaurant and when I gave it to him he smiled sincerely and told me thank you. A woman in the restaurant saw the exchange and went out of her way to tell me what a nice thing that was that I did. I thought about it and knew that the kindness and boldness to reach out was not because of me but because what Jesus was doing in my life.
The Lord had also pressed on my heart a boy that I watched in daycare a year ago and his mother who struggles financially and also struggles with a fatigue disorder. The Lord was telling me to call them and tell them that I had been praying for them. This is completely out of character for me again and awkward for me, but the Lord knew what he was doing and he blessed our conversation. I told her that I had a gift for her and her son and she was excited and touched. ( I bought them a giftcard to the movies and gave them the rest of the cash). She told me that me calling her was totally a God thing. Just before I called she told me a story of how her friend had just called to give her some good news about some furniture for her that she explained as “a blessing from the Lord.” She was also telling me how much her and her son wanted to go to the movies, and I told her that that was exactly the gift I wanted to give to her and her son. What a God thing! I have not given them the gift yet, but when I do later in the week I pray it will be a blessing.
Overall, God has helped me step out of my comfort zone and approach people I never would have approached on my own. He has shown me that I need to be more patient in my prayer life, and ultimately shown me that he can use anyone (even me!) to serve him.