"How Can You Show Generosity to Others?" - Pastor Cindy's Devotion - November 1, 2017

Hello Friends!

Have you thought of ways to be generous to your family members, neighbors or even strangers?  What may seem small, could have an everlasting effect on someone.  Read this week's Midweek Devotion and ponder how you can show generosity to others.

At one time I worked for a human service agency. The agency provided lots of services to children and families in need. One of the services was a group home for ten teen girls. For a variety of reasons, primarily abuse and neglect, the girls could no longer live at home. So they lived in the group home. A local business learned about the girls and, when one of the girls had a birthday, the business would bring the girl a birthday cake and a small gift. I didn’t work at the group home but my work took me by there from time to time. Once I stopped by on the day of a birthday. The girls were outside sitting on the curb. When I asked what was going on, the adult supervisor explained about the birthday. The girls were waiting for the business to arrive with the cake and presents. And then she said, “They are excited. They’ve never experienced generosity before.” According to the worker, in their lives, everything had come at a cost. Nothing had been freely given. Generosity was worth sitting on the curb and waiting for.

Of course, the girls had seen generosity before. Generosity is a practice of God. It is a form of love, like forgiveness and respect and nurturing and healing. God loves us in these ways all the time. For the girls, though, generosity had gotten all tangled up in very human brokenness. In their lives, someone had lost their way. Someone had behaved in a hateful way. Someone kept score. Even the most basic things, love especially love, came at a cost. And somehow everyone had lost sight of simple generosity.

Today is Wednesday and that means our Wednesday Night Live teams are preparing supper for us. In the past, there has been a set price for the meal. Tonight the Wednesday Night Live program is beginning what they call a Generosity Adventure. Rather than a set price, everyone is invited to come to the meal, pay what they can afford and enjoy a lovely supper.

This Generosity Adventure means that:
Someone who might not have been able to come because they couldn’t afford it can now join us for supper.
It means that customers now become guests, just like when we invite people to dinner in our homes.
It means we shift from cashiers to hosts.
It means that when Jesus asks us to feed people in Matthew 14, we can nod our heads and say “ok.”
It means that as God has been generous to us, we can now be generous to others.

The Wednesday Night Live team is hoping that the generosity will overflow and someday the extra proceeds can be used to help families and children in our community.

Do you think we can trust generosity? Is it really like forgiveness and respect and nurturing and healing, another form of love? Can we trust God?

You are invited to join in the Generosity Adventure. Come and eat. Come and pay what you can afford. Bring the neighbors. Come and see what God has in store. Bring your generous hearts. If you like, we can sit on the curb and watch what happens.

What’s happening this week at West Des Moines United Methodist Church?

This Sunday at West Des Moines United Methodist Church we will celebrate All Saints Day.  We will remember loved ones who have died.  We will thank God for what they have meant to us.  Hope you will join us in this time of remembrance.

Every blessing,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Visit us at wdmumc.org or like us on Facebook.

We worship at 8:30 and 11 on Sundays and we would love to worship with you.