I recently visited with a retreat coordinator who reminded me of a verse in 2 Corinthians 8, that got me thinking.

But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge,
in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you,
but I want to test the sincerity of your love
by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 
vs 7-8

The season of getting is upon us, but I love this reminder about the grace of giving. Certainly the economy will have an effect on our material giving this year, but that’s not what the grace of giving is about, is it? The grace of giving is a reflection of our heart. It’s laying aside self-centeredness and putting others first. It’s keeping our mouth closed when we have a litany of things to say … that would only stir up trouble. The grace of giving is self-sacrificing. It might look like giving up a felt need, a position of comfort, a last bite of _________, a “want” … in order to bless someone else.  The grace of giving isn’t something we do just for those we love, it’s for those Christ loves … that kinda stretches our borders, doesn’t it? That might look like blessing the Wal-Mart greeter by calling him by name, smiling at the scary looking man in the customer service line in front of you (or letting the one behind you take your place).

In today’s economy, I can’t help but notice that peoples’ tendency is to be more selfish … look out for number one. But in God’s economy, the more you give, the more you get in return. (Now you know, I’m not talking about material things, right? I am not preaching a prosperity gospel here!) Listen to vs. 9 of 2nd Corinthians, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Friends, no matter what the cost, the grace of giving on our part is more than matched by the self-giving “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 9).

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!  With Holy Enthusiasm, Vicki

I’m afraid I’m limping back to my blog after a brief break. I’ve been working on some final projects for my master’s class. Last week I worked on researching the Scriptures to establish what the core Biblical principles were concerning topics such as leadership, men/women, assemblies, etc. Then I had to determine what the implications of those principles were for the twenty-first century church and evaluate my church’s constitution in light of all that. Aren’t you glad I chose not to post my paper here? Ha! (Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the process, but I missed having the margin to work on the Plug Me In study and posting here. Ah, but that was my appointment for last week. Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend I experienced a physical sensation of Scripture. Here’s what happened … I had the amazing privilege of speaking for a group of wonderful women in Wisconsin. We’ve been planning this event for several months and God led me to write a new message for the weekend. I have literally prayed and fasted for this event for months. To top it off, I took along three of my closest friends to serve as the worship team and they were extraordinary! I expected to be soaring. Seriously!

However, just before my morning message I was sitting in the pew and I physically felt like all my energy was dripping out my fingers and toes and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. I would have freaked out, but at that moment, I was too overcoming with exhaustion to freak. I simply prayed. Read the rest of this entry »

If you thought I was predicting the winner of today’s election, you will be disappointed. The kids and I started our day out at 6:35 at the polls, however. We volunteered to help with Kids Vote USA from 7-9 a.m. It was a blast! My favorite moment was when one little boy turned in his ballot. I gave him a high-five and some kudos for voting. Then he loudly announced, “I’d NEVER vote for … “at that moment his astute Momma clamped her hand over his mouth … and about thirty voters in the area busted up laughing. Hilarious!

We celebrated our morning by going to Perkins for breakfast, coming home to do school … and we cleaned the entire house top to bottom. If you’ve been following my speaking schedule for the last 8 weeks, then  you can imagine how dire the situation was in our house. Even the mealworms who are now, one-by-one transforming into beetles (the boys’ science experiment) were wanting out of the house!  It’s a thing of beauty now though. I see supper out in our future. After we finished cleaning, I wrapped up the proposal for the Bible study I just finished and sent it off to my agent. the hamburger remained thawed in the fridge.

Now, if you thought WINNER! referrred to the bloggy carnival, you were right!  Here are the winners of the three prizes … congratulations!  Please email me your mailing address so I can get these things sent off to you!

Ginny (scrappydesigns@gmail.com) won Sharon Hinck’s two books, The Secret Life of Becky Miller and Renovating Becky Miller

 Cheryl C. (castings@mindspring.com) won the $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble

Lydia (lydia@bower@gmail.com) won the foot spa

Please send me your addresses. Yes, I know I said that already, but I want you to get your prizes!!

Congratulations!