Yesterday I found myself interacting with several people in various states of need in their lives, with the opportunity to help and encourage each in some way.
Every year, our church collects food for needy families, packing them Thanksgiving boxes with turkey, dressing, and everything else for a full family meal. I swear, Hebron is the most generous church I've ever seen. Numerous families came by to pick up their boxes, each profusely grateful. We even had the privilege of quietly packing a couple of boxes for one of our very faithful children's ministry leaders, whose family has fallen on hard times in recent years. Humbling, to serve him and his family, in light of all they have done over the years for this ministry.
Later, I rode over to an older gentleman's house I had met the other night at a Redbox station, who had a couple of old motorcycles to sell. I examined his two bikes, but also noted he walked with a limp and a cane. When I inquired, he confided, "I'm 71 years old, and have had a couple of lower back surgeries in the past couple of years. Bone on bone down there. In fact, I'm facing a possible hip replacement this coming year, if we can afford it. I just can't get down and work on these bikes anymore, much less ride them. Time to let them go." I could sense the sadness in his voice- not only at having to give up riding, but also just at gradually losing his health, and ability to do the things he enjoys. I told him, "Well, whether we do business or not, God bless you, I'll be praying about all that for you, and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family." He was very grateful.
Later that evening, I had to meet Lisa down in Snellville with the pickup truck, to pick up some furniture from a coworker of hers. At a gas station outside town, a woman pulled up alongside me in a beat-up old Toyota, and asked, "Sir, I hate to ask, but could you spare some change? I'm trying to get home to South Carolina for Thanksgiving, and am about out of money." I told her, "All I have is $3, I'm filling my truck up on a card, but I'll give you what I have. And I'll pray you get safely home. God bless you." She gave an emotional thank you, then pulled out and drove off.
I met Lisa at the apartment of her coworker, who was being evicted, unable to pay the rent anymore. We had given her a dining room set with six chairs, one we bought ourselves about 20 years ago. Now, she couldn't take it with her, moving into a much smaller place, but we said we'd store it for her, and when she could take it, we'd give it back to her. Again, she expressed heartfelt gratitude, for the gift to begin with, and the offer to give it back to her if/when she was ready.
We drove it to one of Lisa's friend's house, who said she had room in her basement to store it. She herself is a single mom with a daughter, no child support from her ex-husband (in prison), struggling to make ends meet and keep her home. She had hit something and broke the passenger side mirror on her car, and couldn't afford to fix it. I pulled off the broken one, and we told her we'd help get and install a new one for her.
Driving home, I was thinking about all these various people who had crossed paths with me today. I was grateful for all God has blessed my own family with, way more than we need or deserve. I also found myself grateful for the opportunity to serve, give, and encourage, to each of these very different people and life circumstances. I had been praying that God would stir up in me a heart of generosity, not only over the holidays, but as a way of life. I feel like I've become too selfish in recent years, gaining and keeping only for me and my family. I want to have a generous heart and an open hand with all God has blessed us with. "To whom much is given, much is required" Luke 12:48.
We are by no means wealthy by American standards, but certainly are compared to much of the rest of the world. If anyone should be a giving people, it should be Christians, those of us who have truly tasted of the goodness and generosity of the Lord.
What better way to show thankfulness?

Another presidential election has come and gone, and Barack Obama has won a second term. In a hard-fought campaign, he narrowly defeated Mitt Romney, with the popular vote nearly equal, 50-50, winning mainly due to the ridiculous Electoral College system we employ here. Its hard to believe, after four years of a dismal recession, gridlock in Washington, government-mandated health care rammed down everyone’s throats, as well as higher prices, higher taxes, and higher national debt. When Obama took office, the average price for a gallon of gas was $1.87, considered too high even then. Now, four years later, prices are approaching $4.00 per gallon, with no decline in sight. Fuel costs affect everything else, so prices have gone up for food, clothing, etc. Rather than fix the economy, the Democrats pushed through “ObamaCare”, bailed out the auto and banking industries, and sunk billions into “green energy” projects, many of which have failed. All with money borrowed from China. They hold the vast majority of our rising national debt, which recently topped 16 trillion dollars. The bottom fell out of the economy, companies went under or downsized, and currently there are 23+ million people out of work or in part-time and temp jobs. And yet the federal government has grown at an alarming rate. Under Obama’s first watch, all this has happened, and yet the Dems (aided by the leftist “news” media, Hollywood, education, etc.) still, after four years successfully blamed the country’s ills on- Former President Bush. Imagine that.

Obama has had some successes, however. He did get Osama bin Laden (using Bush’s policies no less). Also, he has successfully blocked states from protecting their borders from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, has encouraged the legalization of pot and other drugs in various states, pushed an abortion-on-demand agenda, championed gay marriage, and challenged religious liberty by forcing free contraception and abortion be covered by medical institutions with religious affiliation. Yeah, he has quite a record from his first term.

So here we are, looking at four more years of the most leftist president in the history of the country. And the country re-elected him. I guess that says a lot about the direction America is going. Our traditional, Judeo-Christian heritage is under attack, our history is being rewritten, and we are officially leaving the Constitution and our founding principles behind. The liberal media calls it “the brave new world”. I call it the slippery slope to oblivion. The past four years tell us what the next four will be like. Will gas prices be $6-8 per gallon, will our national debt top $25 trillion, will the economy completely collapse? Doesn’t look good.

I went to bed Tuesday night saddened, and awoke Wednesday not feeling any better. I felt as though the America I grew up with is going away, never to return. We have moved from “a hand up” society to “a handout” society. Rather than earn a living and make a life for yourself, we are entering an era of entitlements, handouts, “take from the wage-earners and give to those who refuse to work”. As well as all of the social engineering regarding gay marriage, legalization of drugs, unfettered abortion and govt funded contraception. America is changing, not for the better.

And yet, God spoke something to me Wednesday morning that I needed to hear. I found myself in Psalm 20:7, which reads, “Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Substitute “chariots” with “political systems”, “horses” with “politicians”, and you get a pertinent message for us today. God is not surprised by the election, He already knows what the next four years hold, and He is still on the throne of eternity. Ultimately, my citizenship is with Heaven, whatever happens down here.

In that, I find comfort.