Generosity..It Is Contagious..Pass It On!

Coolest thing happened at tutoring last night!  And I found it even more awesome since one of my words this year is eucharisteo...thanksgiving.  You see, I've found myself being more generous with myself, my time, and my resources as I am more thankful to God.  He constantly gives me blessing after blessing each day, and that makes me want to be more generous in return.  I want to be the blessing.  This 6th grade boy showed me that he could be the blessing too.

We had a new little guy last night.  He said he was 7 years old...and stayed at the tutoring center from 3:30 until we closed at 7:30.  That is a LONG time for a 7 year old.  LONG time.  The last  hour I worked with him and Mr. Generous.  Poor little guy was struggling, tired and worn out.  His attention and confident in himself was waning.  I tried to reward him with extra tokens so at the end he could go to the reward store and buy himself something nice for all of his hard work.  Little guy went over to the store with the help of Mr. Generous to pick something out, but he just didn't have enough tokens.  I was going to encourage little guy to get something small for all of his hard work for the day when Mr. Generous said he would buy him something out of his stack of tokens.  He said he had more than enough and he would like to do that for little guy.  Well, I couldn't say no to that act of generosity  the act of being a blessing to other in return, the act of eucharisteo in action.  I said that was a great idea.  So Mr. Generous bought little guy a light up top that made his face light up.  In fact, by the time we all left, everyone's faces were lit up with smiles!  And that random act of kindness will stay with me this week...I'll have my heart and eyes open to how I can be that generous with someone else...God is so good!

Eucharisteo. What is it?

     Eucharisteo. This word came into my life last November through Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts. I had heard about her story and the challenge to make a list of daily thanks to God. I started a list last July, but it wasn't until I read Ann's book that a seed planted deeply to start to produce an attitude of gratitude.
     The Greek word eucharisteo means thanksgiving and encompasses grace and joy. A powerful word God demonstrates over and over in His word. We are to live in the present moment, live with the I AM now. We turn our eyes upward to The Lord instead of downward on ourselves. It allows us to see His daily grace for life and enables us in return to give grace to others. Ann challenges the reader to go on their own joy dare, searching for eucharisteo, searching for a deeper relationship with God. The question you may ask yourself: Does it work? Does collecting gifts, being aware of the here and now of God's goodness change your life for the better? As Ann says, "Does thanksgiving really proceed the miracle?" I'm here to say that I'm only one month in as an intentional gift collector, but I know my life is better. I know thanksgiving proceeds the miracle.
     It's an exciting time for my family right now. My younger sister, The Nurse, is getting married! She is over the moon happy! I'm excited that she has such a good person to spend her life with. Lately, we have bridal faired, dress shopped, planned, and talked about how to make her special day come together.  I was worried that through all of this, I would wallow in self-pity. You see, if things were going according to my plan, I would have been married for two years. Instead, I'm not married or even dating anyone. Ungrateful Amy would be bitter and filled with jealousy. Ungrateful Amy would have complained it wasn't fair her younger sister was getting married first.

     Instead, The Gift Searcher Amy, the one seeking God's goodness everyday, is  happy for The Nurse. Last weekend we found her dress, and let me tell you she looks so fabulous and grown-up! Not to mention radiating with joy! She is bursting with excitement! The Gift Searcher Amy can honestly rejoice with her! I am so thankful for her and her future husband. I can't wait to see all the wonderful things God has in store for them.

      In all this thanksgiving, the miracle has happened; I am no longer that jealous, panicked person whose life is not going to her plan. No, now I'm praising God for The Nurse's happiness and resting in the promise that I know that He has a plan for me and it does include an "Ephesians 3:20" man in His time, way, and place.
     If you are facing hard times, I encourage you to look upward, give thanks in the storm, and let The Lord change your heart and life. Thanksgiving does proceed the miracle.
     Here's the special couple! Look how adorable they are! Can't wait for June 29th! Love you so much sister!!