$40 Goes a Long Way....

I am so excited to share with you something that happened this past weekend that just blows me away (in a good way). I'll start by telling you that in November my pastor felt led by God to give every family in our church $40 to pray over and sow as a seed wherever God showed us. My pastor said he was believing for awesome praise reports and testimonies about how God had used this to minister to people.

My mom prayed over her money and felt like God told her to give it to the mail lady. So, one day mom chased the mail lady down and gave her the $40. She told her the story about how our pastor had heard from God to give us this money and to pray about who to give it to. Mom told her that she had prayed over it and believed that God wanted her to have it and that He loved her. Mom said that the mail lady started crying immediately and was so excited and thanked her. Mom hadn't talked to her or seen her since that day back in November.

Fast Forward to this weekend. On Saturday, mom woke up early and she decided to go outside and trim the bushes in the front yard (which is not something she would normally do by the way) and she just so happened to be out there in the yard working when the mail lady came. It was the same lady and they started talking. She told Mom that she had been asking God to have Mom open the door or something when she delivered the mail so she could talk to her. She told Mom that she would never know how much that $40 changed her. They both cried and hugged and then she asked Mom if she could come to our church on Sunday and share with the church how God had used the money to touch her.

Sandra speaking at our Church

So Sandra (the mail lady) came to our church this past Sunday morning and shared with us the whole story of what God had done! She said that after Mom gave her the money, she went to her mail car and cried and then called her family and friends and told them what had happened. She said that everyone she told was so touched and that God really used it to minister to them and her. She said that she prayed about what to do with the money and she went to church and gave $20 in the offering and then she gave the other $20 (plus her tip) to a waitress at a restaurant that she ended up talking to and found out was a single mother. By the end of her testimony, there was not a dry eye in the place.

I know for my pastor and his wife it was such and encouragement and confirmation that they had really heard from God and that God had used that $40 to touch so many people! It wasn't about the money...it was about the act of love and kindness. For me, it encouraged me to start looking and praying for ways to encourage others and do little acts of kindness to show God's love to others. You never know what a small act like buying groceries for your elderly neighbor, giving a cold water to your mail carrier, buying someones food in line behind you at a drive through, or simply just smiling at someone can do.

We enjoyed getting to
know Sandra. We invited her to eat with us at Logan's after church and invited her to our ladies meeting at church that night. We were so excited that she came and even brought her daughter with her. The message at the ladies night was about servant hood and and was all about looking for ways to serve others (how perfect was that!) At the end, Sandra's 21 year old daughter stood up and thanked everyone for inviting her and she started to cry because she was so touched by all the love shown to her and her Mom...the ladies at Joy Church know how to love on you :) It was so sweet and God really moved in such an incredible way that night.

Sandra's story gave me an idea.... I have an assignment (it's the teacher in me :) for anyone reading my blog:

1. Ask God to show you one person this week you can practically share God's love with either by meeting a need, simply smiling at them, giving them a compliment, giving them a gift, etc...

2. Write a comment telling me who God put on your heart and what you did....I would love to hear your ideas.