Event date: 6/1/2020 Export event Pastor Heidi Johns / Monday, June 1, 2020 / Categories: Publications, Daily Devotions Daily Devotion Today’s story was written by Ken Holdt I was chatting with my sister, Wendy, about our parental efforts to instill a sense of gratitude and servanthood in our blessed-beyond-measure families. After talking about the ministries that first come to mind - soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity, Matthew 25 - my sister surprised, delighted, and inspired me by recalling how poignant God’s Work Our Hands Sunday was to her. As you may recall, on God’s Work Our Hands Sunday in 2019, Good Shepherd issued checks to every family in attendance at worship so that might be Christ’s light in the world by donating that check to a cause where or person to whom we felt most called. Wendy went on to say that that demonstration of faith, God’s love and light, and empowerment of God’s people to “GO!” inspired her to add a postscript on her last will and testament and final instructions. Though we hope and pray Wendy’s time will come decades from now, she intends to follow a similar path as that September day in worship at GSLC - gifting every family in attendance at her funeral with a check whose 'pay to the order of' is blank so that others might also be inspired to be Christ’s Light in the world. The ripples of blessing that begin at Good Shepherd emanate outward to places we’d never imagine! Another twist, my in-laws were in attendance at GWOH 2019. As a direct response to this effort, they drew inspiration and followed suit, giving checks with the ‘pay to the order of’ blank at Christmas to each of the 19 grandchildren (aged 2 - 20) so that the kids might have the opportunity to consider the world, and make a contribution to bring Christ’s Light where they felt most called. (We, in turn, intend to do this at Christmas 2020 for my side of the family.) Blessings begun at the Good Shepherd faith community ripple ever outward! Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Reflection: What stories or events have prompted you to greater generosity? What does the phrase “blessed to be a blessing” mean to you? Previous Article Daily Devotion Next Article Daily Devotion Print 9232 Rate this article: 5.0 1 comments on article "Daily Devotion" Kathy Shuman Just a wonderful idea for grandparents. 😍 6/2/2020 7:22 AM Reply to Leave a comment Name: Please enter a name. Email: Please enter an email address. Please enter a valid email address. Comment: Please enter comment. I agree This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data. You must read and accept this rules. Add comment