Living Generously
Generosity has been an ever-present element of Fellows, that has continuously blown me away from the start. This community at Church of the Redeemer is wildly generous in a way I have never seen before first-hand. To this day, the idea that a family would want me to live in their home free of cost and welcome me into their daily life with open arms is hard for me to wrap my head around. I just can’t believe how welcomed I have felt. The hospitable, compassionate and generous nature of the Wolfe family (and all the other host families) is just incredible to me.
Last week, the Fellows attended a Journey of Generosity workshop— also known as a JOG— which deepened my understanding of generosity and expanded on what I have already witnessed in these past months as a Fellow. (Shoutout to Brian for leading this!)
During our JOG, I was reminded that “we live by grace even when it comes to ‘daily bread.’ We are dependent upon God for the simplest elements of life: air, water, sun. What we have is not the result of our labor, but of the gracious care of God.” What we have is not ours, but Gods, which should encourage our hearts to be radically generous to the world around us. Throughout this time, we watched stories of peoples lives transformed by generosity, and it was so powerful to see how life-giving a generous lifestyle really is. One story that stood out to me in particular was of a woman who was in need of a car, but gave away her car savings to another person who came to her in need. In response to this, a couple decided to buy this woman a brand-new car, just the type and color that this woman dreamed of. They had seen her generosity and felt moved to help her. Even the car dealership was in on it, working with the couple to discount the car. This video showed the day they surprised her with the delivery of her car. A small group of people involved in the process huddled beside the car as you see her running towards it. Her response was so raw and emotional— she hunched over, a flood of tears streaming down her face, as you could just see her face light up with humility and gratitude towards the couple. She gave huge hugs all around, and smiled from ear-to-ear. Not a person in that scene had a dry eye. It was such a powerful example of how deeply impactful it is to love someone in such a generous way.
This session left me feeling inspired to love others with my time, thoughts, and any resources that God blesses me with in the future. I am so thankful for these examples and new ideas for how to live a generous life that persistently shows up in this Greensboro community, and it makes me feel so hopeful for what the future holds.
-Kate Arney