As many of you will know, I had a scheduled hip replacement at the end of June. I’m very grateful for all the kindness that I’ve received following that operation. My experience has been that walking with crutches means that most people avoid you and treat you with care, even when you are a complete stranger. Being offered seats on buses is welcome and a bit of a shock to the system! (Unfortunately, that’s not the experience of every disabled person.)
Several acts of especial generosity stand out but I will mention one in particular. Fairly soon after I was home, I received a text from someone asking whether I would be able to have a visitor that morning. I hastily replied to say that it would be lovely to see them and was then asked whether I needed anything. As always, I had enough food in my flat to feed an army but replied that some strawberries would be very welcome.
The visitor duly arrived with a large shopping bag and I assumed that they had used the visit to me as an opportunity to buy some groceries for themselves as well. Not so – the entire contents of the bag were for me. Strawberries and four other types of fruit, cream AND yoghurt to accompany the fruit, cheese, a quiche and a newspaper.
That was such an example of generosity ‘pressed down, running over, falling into our laps’. But God’s generosity to us is even more than that. ‘See what love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the Children of God. And that is what we are.’ How do we respond to such generous love shown to us? It’s simple – we show generosity back.
Jeff Claxton
