Happy Valentine's Day

Sorry I'm late, I just didn't have time this morning as I was opening up my first Valentine's gift this morning. Being married SO beats being single!

It's been a great day already. Our bookkeeper brought in a beautiful bag of hershey kisses for everyone, then our Full Throttle person brought us a 1 lb. box of See's nuts and chews. There are chocolate chip cookies and heart cookies in our kitchen at work. I've decided that diets don't count on holidays. Seriously, think of today, Easter, graduations, birthdays, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Why do the guilt thing? Just plunge in and enjoy! Tomorrow it's back to cottage cheese and pinneapple for lunch.

Our daughter has been working the last 2-3 weeks on raising money for WorldVision's 30 Hour Famine to feed hungry children in Africa. The kids raise money, sleep in cardboard boxes at church Friday night, do a canned food drive Saturday morning, feed the homeless, then come back to the church for a soup lunch. They do all this without eating for 30 Hours. Talk about putting your faith where your stomach is!

She set a goal of $1095, which will feed 3 children for a year. She set this goal because she knew it was outside her abilities to raise the money. She had to rely on God to provide. For a quiet, shy girl, she assertively went up to people at church she knew and didn't know and asked them if they would sponser her. She asked teachers and fellow students. She even made an annoucement at the end of Bible class and kids handed over all their spare money.

I had to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned (I so dread it, though my dentist and his staff are wonderful, I just don't like being stuck in a chair being worked on). Kristen came with me. First, she hit up the dentist when he checked my teeth. She was blessed with $50! Then the hygenist offered $10 and she didn't even ask her! Then she hit up the receptionist and she gave $5. She went in $90 short of her goal and was now $25 short. Greg took her to a neighbor afterwards and she got another $50. She was over her goal with 2 days to spare!

The thing I loved was how she received the money. When they handed her the money, she looked them in the eye and flashed that straight-toothed $3000 smile and said, "Thank you SO MUCH!" It was so genuine. I was so proud. She treated every donation with the same appreciation.

It's also true love when we give unselfishly. Kristen started her fundraising with her own spending money, all that she had, which as around $17. She's going to give one of her fellow youth group kids $20 towards his goal on Friday out of her own money as he gave her $10 of his own money. It's so cool to watch.

2Cor 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

And to tie giving in with love:

1Cor 13:3 "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

When you give, give cheerfully and not because you're forced to. And always, give with love in your heart.