The Wallers share about Giving ~
It’s been fun! We are giving our Ford Taurus to Michael Tate, who has served and blessed our kids in a multitude of ways, mostly through New Heights Student Ministries. I am really happy about that. I know Michael has worked really hard to make wise financial decisions and has managed to arrange rides with friends in order to get to work, etc. so it’s a joy to bless him with a car!
Of course, as I was prayerfully looking for who God wanted us to give the car to, my cleaning gal, Shannon West, said her car was in the shop and she didn’t have the money to repair it. She had borrowed a car to get to my house. So I prayed about giving the car to her and then consulted with Matt. We felt led to just pay for her repairs. When I told Shannon, she looked at me and said, “Are you kidding me?”. I said, “No, it’s for real. Her hands shot straight up in the air – she was praising the Lord! So glad she knew who to thank. It was God’s kindness and provision to her and we were just the conduit he used to deliver the gift.
One day, I was in and out of Hobby Lobby a couple of times taking Sarah to her art class. The first time I decided to avoid the Salvation Army bell ringer. I guess I just didn’t have my Jesus mindset in place yet for the day! I watched this sweet black man as he helped people leaving the store to get across the street (There’s big time traffic at Hobby Lobby this time of year!!) Second trip in the store I did better! I took time to gather some money to drop in his box and grabbed one of my Starbuck’s free cup of coffee coupons that I keep in my car console. As I put money in his bucket, he thanked me. It felt good to stop and say, “Thank YOU, for what you are doing here”. We had a little chat and I found out he likes coffee. So I just gave him the coupon and said God bless you! Nothing big….just a few moments to stop and show appreciation for another.
Sarah needed to write a 3 paragraph essay about a person she knew who had godly character traits. She immediately thought of our good friend, Dick Ayres. She had ideas and wrote it up. Her teacher at Providence Academy, Mrs. Janicke, graded it and wrote at the bottom of the page, You MUST send this to him – what a wonderful man! Well, in the economy of our world, Dick doesn’t get a lot of attention and praise. He doesn’t make a lot of money, he doesn’t have any super talents, he does not push himself forward to gain the praise of men. He lives a humble life and keeps eternity in view on an daily basis! We have known Dick (and his lovely wife Laura) for the past 19 years we have lived here in Fayetteville, he amazes us (Matt and I) with his level of integrity, passion for Jesus and compassion for people. Reading Mrs. Janicke’s comment really made me realize that this little essay would be a beautiful gift of encouragement to Dick! So, I’m scanning the essay so you can post it with my words. Words of encouragement and affirmation…a great way to give!
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