Giving others the opportunity to give

Recently, my sister was asked by the coach of her son’s school football (soccer) team to provide 30 lunches for the team. They would be preparing for a very important match, and the school canteen was closed on practice day so they would be unable to get lunch.

When my sister related the request to me, I asked her what she had told coach. “Of course I will do it; what else could I say?”. So, I wondered, how would she finance it? She advised she was going ahead in faith and ordering the food. I suggested to her that she send out an e-mail (my proven miracle worker for any request I have). This she did later that evening to alumni of the school and her personal friends. By morning, she received 4 cash commitments – one for J$500.00, another for $2,000.00, one to fund all 30 meals, and a query “how do I get the money to you”. In addition, she got a very generous 30% discount on the meals, upped from 20% initially offered! The upshot was that she was able to provide the meals – PLUS 30 meals the next day when the boys played the match! The universe provided double what she requested!

Yet again I am reminded how the universe ALWAYS says “YES”! Not only that, but that the universe knows no limit – note that more than was requested was provided. Indeed, my sister came back marvelling at how coach made the food “stretch” as many more than 30 were fed. On the second day, there was food to spare! It’s the same as Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves, and having leftovers! It’s really no miracle – just a demonstration that the universe only knows how to give abundantly and without limit.

I was also reminded of the importance of moving forward with faith. There was never any doubt in Carole’s mind that the boys would be fed. She knew it would happen, and having put the word out, her job was simply to take the action – send the e-mail, arrange to collect the money and deliver the food.

And then there is the lesson about giving others the opportunity to give. One option facing Carole was to charge the purchase to her credit card and then worry about paying the bill later. Instead, she chose to give others the opportunity to give. They were ecstatic! The e-mails thanking HER for allowing them to give were amazing. Which is a reminder of the blessedness of giving, now good we feel and indeed how selfish we are NOT to allow others to give! There is never a need to beg, only to open up and ask others to give. Interestingly, the one negative she got was from someone who she called twice. We pondered his response, and agreed that the lesson from this was that when you ask, simply send it out to the universe and allow the responses to flow back – no need to push, cajole or persuade.

The story ends with the boys losing the match. But they were consoled by the lovely meal at the end. Their thanks were profuse – indeed, my sister can’t walk a step at the school without being acknowledged by a smiling, grateful young man. But it wasn’t only the boys who were grateful – the donors were. The restaurant managers acknowledged their pleasure, and spoke about “next time”. And here’s an e-mail from one of the donors:

“Thank you for being such a solid supporter of these kids …… they’re learning that you win some and you lose some, but that at the end of the day…..we all gotta eat…!”

But that’s not quite the end – the restaurant called the day after the match to advise that the meals were ready! The universe was ready to provide …. again!