Grace: Unexpected and undeserved act of kindness
Gilgal Bible Chapel had decided to throw a going away party for our family the day before we were to move back to Iowa . We’d spent five years of our lives, sinking our roots into the people and town of West Milford New Jersey. We’d moved there so I could attend some classes in marriage and family counseling. The schooling was only part time, so I’d got a job with Mark one of the men in the church who had a house framing business. I loved it.
Thuc (pronounced took) Mark, Vito, Paul, Charlie and I worked side by side, in some cases 6 days a week…I was going to miss these people. It was time to move and this was our going away party. The 28 ft Ryder truck was loaded with all of our 2nd hand furniture, and this was our going away party.There were skits, people sharing memories of our 5 years with them, food.
My friend John called me up front to present me with an envelope- a gift of money- ”a little something” to help as we relocated back to the Midwest. I didn’t open it, thinking it might appear a little tacky- I just said “Thank you.”
side note- This was a small church, mostly blue collar types… on a good Sunday, there would be between 60 and 80 people in attendance.
Anyway, John, obviously knew what was in the envelope and thought I should open it…”psss, Doug, I really think you should open it now“…….
I opened the envelop to discover a check for $4,000.00. I was speechless. A few years before, I’d seen the church send off another young family, and they’d given them a used car, maybe valued at $1,500- $2,000.00…and they as a family were going to pastor a church somewhere…me..I was just a carpenter and his family heading back to Iowa.
This was not the first time I’d experienced an unexpected, take your breath away gift of love….and it wasn’t the last time.
It happened again two weeks ago….are you still with me? 
Still reading along?
Long story short, we own a small apple orchard, it’s just now beginning to produce some beautiful apples :
Close up of the 2009 Honeycrisp crop
Closeup of the 2009 Gingergold apple crop
2 years ago, someone gave us a walk in cooler (without the refrigeration unit). I’ve been looking into what it would take to get the thing up and running…commercial compressors are not cheap. As I have done some reading on the Internet , I came across a little electronic gizmo that attaches to a household air conditioner…it’s called a Coolbot- or a fraction of the cost. Well, about two weeks ago, someone out of the blue sent me an e-mail asking about the orchard, the status of the cooler, etc. I told them it wasn’t going to happen this year…just didn’t have the money. They wrote back, offering to help with funding, because they felt a spiritual nudge (prompting) to do so…and the rest is history:
closeup of the cool bot control
picture of the electrician hooking up the sub-panel
picture of the ginger-gold apples I picked last night and put in the cooler.
A friend and electrician offered to help me hook up the wiring to the cooler. He was able to pick up 175 foot of #6 UF wire for us at a contractor’s supply store.. This is the type of wire you can bury in the ground long term…it is not cheap. When I asked him for the invoice he simply said, it was on him (as well as his time hooking things up)…so that made two people who felt prompted to help us out with the cooler this Summer…everything was up and running virtually to the day I needed it in order to refrigerate the first variety of apples.
I as a person, I enjoy extending unexpected kindness to others…to be on the receiving end is a little trickier How many times do you hear people say, “I love to give -but have a hard time receiving…”
To you I would simply say, get over it. When you allow someone else to extend grace to you, you bring them joy.
Thoughts, comments, questions? As always, thanks for reading my stuff. DM
Tags: attitude, Christianity, faith, Gilgal Bible Chapel West Milford NJ, house church, Iowa, Life, pastors, personal, photography, relationships, religion, spirituality, thoughts, Uncategorized
August 28, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
Wow. This post hits home to me for so many reasons.
A couple weeks ago my hubby and I made it known to our family and friends that we were adopting a baby. We got a lot of congrats, and stuff like that. And unfortunately some people who I thought would congratulate us have been silent. But I digress. But some people who I knew were friends but didn’t realize they cared THAT much about me have done the most generous things and given to me in ways that they knew I badly needed to be given in. It’s such a humbling feeling and I’m not good at receiving, but I’m trying. More than anything, it’s been such a great feeling to know that I’m not alone.
August 29, 2009 at 8:46 pm |
Amazing! God is sooo good!
August 30, 2009 at 9:49 am |
Very cool – no pun intended!
– how God works right when and how He’s needed. Not before, not after, sometimes not to excess, but always enough. Occasionally, spilling over – more than you could ever imagine or expect – and always for His name’s sake, that He would receive the glory for the outcome.
September 7, 2009 at 7:01 am |
I firmly believe that the gifts that we receive are directly related to what we give and put out into the Universe; this sometimes related also to the heaviness of the burdens and lessons that we face. So, the fact that you received in this way, DM, is of no surprise to me, because you have a giving spirit and soul, and others feel that from you.
I am so happy for your bumper crop, in so many ways……..
Vanessa
September 9, 2009 at 2:40 pm |
“To you I would simply say, get over it. When you allow someone else to extend grace to you, you bring them joy.”
Thanks. This is the best answer I have ever read. It blessed me.
October 13, 2010 at 7:36 pm |
Hello all,
When I was young (in my teens) about 30 or so years ago, my sister and I used to go to a place called gilgal. It was a wonderful time, there was a bunch of us that would go there and play on the trampoline and do fun activities and the adults there would teach us about God and how to pray. Is this the same place? I have just recently asked God into my life and I have been studying the bible and I have been looking for a good bible-based church that still believes spreading the gospel and loving and helping people is our main purpose on this earth. If this is the same place please let me know where you are located so I could stop by and visit. I live in west paterson now but would love to see this place again. My name is mike johnson and I can be reached at mike@mgpaintingplus.com
Thank you and God bless