The Face of Giving

I am constantly learning things from my husband. Sometimes its the meaning to some off colored joke that I so don't understand. Other times its a real life lesson. Yesterday was one of those times. Someone I know works with a woman who had to leave her house along with her kids because her husband was abusive. They are at the moment trying to find an apartment to live in. Of course, they don't have anything. And not just furniture but the little things too: toiletries, cooking pans, plates, silverware, ect. When I heard this my heart went out to them. No woman ever deserves to be treated like that. (For more of my thoughts on that topic, see my December 2007 post). But what happened when I told my husband was a reminder of how God calls us to respond. His first reaction was one of shock and horror. His heart ached as well. But a few seconds later he went into turbo mode. He started walking around the house, well maybe it was more like a run, looking for every little thing that we could give them to help them out. He first went to our garage where we are storing some furniture that we don't have room for at the moment. "They can have all of that" he said. He then went to the gift closet where we keep items which we can give as gifts as the need arises. Lets just say I now have to restock the closet. He then proceeded to pile together all the gifts we received at Christmas that we just hadn't opened yet: corning ware, Tupperware, a down comforter, ect. He looked like a kid in a candy store. He just couldn't get enough stuff. Of course I wanted to help out too. I was willing to give them whatever we could to help. Then came the gentle reminder for me. "We could give them the TV from the sun room" my hubby says. In our house we have a sun room that does not get used much. In it is a TV that we have probably watched 3 times in the past year. Yet my first thought when he said that was, "No. We need that"We need that? Its not like we don't have two more TVs in the house. And that's when I realized this was a learning opportunity for me. I needed to look at my husband and embrace his philosophy. God says not to get attached to the material things of this world. If you have something, it should never mean so much to you that you couldn't give it to someone else who needs it. And that's the thought that popped in my mind. Why not give it to this woman and her kids. Its just a TV. But right now, that could mean the world to them.So I looked in my husbands eyes and saw the meaning of giving. I saw the face of Christ. And I was reminded that nothing in this world even compares to what is to come. I was reminded that I would give everything I own if it meant someone could be happy, feel loved, feel important.
Thank you hubby.