Just a friendly heads up that this post is longer than my other ones. It is my testimony of 2011. Around this same time last year I was e-mailing it to a few friends. I can't believe that now I get to share it with my blog readers as well! I am thankful that God encouraged me to start this blog. Thank you for reading...
One
year ago, before 2011 began, I sat down and prayed and gave some serious
thought about what I’d like to do differently in the New Year. I thought about
what I’d like to change about myself, internally that is. I picked two things:
I wanted to LOVE and GIVE like never before. I chose these two things because although I
have always loved to give, I caught myself having a hard heart sometimes and I
didn’t want to be like that anymore. My prayer for a while had been David’s
prayer, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within
me.” Psalm 51:10. If there was anybody I wanted to be like, if there was
anybody I wanted to follow, it was Jesus. I also desired to be more of a cheerful giver,
“Each man should give what he has decided in His heart to give, not reluctantly
or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7. I
wanted to be sensitive to His Spirit and give to others especially when He prompted
me to. So I made a commitment to God
that I would cheerfully and purposefully give something every day in the year
of 2011. I have kept this commitment and it’s about to come full circle. I
wanted to share this as a way to celebrate what God has done in my life. He has
given me amazing, meaningful giving opportunities that I am so glad to have been
a part of.
This
experience has really allowed me to hear Him clearer and hear Him more. I left
my heart open to be guided by Him and He showed up and led me. This is what I wrote to God in my journal
last January, “This year I want to give and love like never before. I want to
let Your love overflow in me and be a walking testimony of Your love. To You,
God, be the glory! This year I am going to document what I give every day.” I
love to write and I wrote down the things I gave every day as a way of honoring
the talent of writing that God gave me (Matthew 25:14-27). I am so grateful that He not only gave me giving
opportunities but that He did a work in my heart. You see, after a while I noticed that I was so
focused on giving that I forgot about my commitment to love. But then God
opened my eyes to see that in giving to His people, I had come to love them
more also.
The
gifts I gave were mostly non-tangible and not always monetary. Sometimes the
little things that we do can make a huge difference. I’ve witnessed this as God
gave me opportunities to give encouragement, love, gratitude, quality time with
family and friends, kindness, a listening ear, hope, honor, prayer for others,
and more. God has asked me to give to others by sowing seeds into ministries,
sponsoring others for mission trips or youth camp, buying groceries for others,
treating others to lunch/dinner, and more.
I knew that whatever He asked me to give, He would provide. Some of
these giving commitments will carry over into the next three years. My journals are filled with these three
words, “Today I gave …” He gave me opportunities throughout the year that I
could either take or watch as they passed by. It was a challenge, and there
were times that He had to remind me about my commitment, but I saw how
important it was (and is) to reach out when God is asking for something to be
done. He has shown me that giving affects lives, which in turn affects more
lives, and in some cases the lives of others in different countries. There is
such significance in allowing God to use us to meet a need. I have learned that when we give, we express
gratitude for what God has given to us. When we give, it causes others to give
thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:12). When we give, God uses us to be the
answer to other people’s prayers. We can give because God has blessed us. We can give to bring Glory to His name!
Although
I plan to continue to be a cheerful giver, I also plan on making a new
commitment for 2012 and I am looking forward to growing closer to Him. Whatever
you are asking God to do in you this upcoming year, I pray that you can feel
His sweet spirit guiding you and His unmistakable presence surround you. My
prayer is for you to be blessed and to know Him as much as you desire and to
see Him move powerfully in your life.
<3 Heidi
