Giving an unexpected gift…

We did it! In my last blog I told you about the unexpected gift my family received. On Tuesday the kids and I went to Panera Bread to give someone else an unexpected gift!

We prayed in the car, went inside, ordered a snack for ourselves and purchased a gift card. Sitting at a table with a view of the cash register we signed the gift card: From someone who wants you to know God loves you. I asked the employee at the register to give the card to the 2nd or 3rd person who comes in and let him/her know it’s a gift to help pay for their order. I emphasized that we didn’t want the person to know who gave the card. The girl at the register was surprised and confused, but said she would love to do it.

The kids and I enjoyed our snack while they did homework and we waited to see who God wanted to receive the gift. I have to tell you, it did not go according to plan! We never saw the girl give the card to anyone. Maybe her manager told her not to give it away. Maybe she didn’t want to do it while we were there. Maybe she wanted it for herself… We talked about it and decided to leave without asking her.

Although the result was disappointing, it provided a wonderful “teachable moment”! We talked about the fact that God calls us to be faithful to do what He asks us to do and leave the results to Him. He is in control of the gift He asked us to give and He will make sure it gets into the right hands.  It may be that the employee is the one God wanted to bless!  Sometimes He lets us see the results and sometimes He doesn’t but either way, we can be sure the gift is not wasted!

Teaching our children to give to others without trying to control how God uses the gift will free them to become generous givers for a lifetime!