During the Hurricane Sandy relief work our church was so actively involved with... Brendon gets a phone call from a lady named Danielle from a Private Family Foundation (which I will let the family name remain anonymous) saying she read about us and she is very interested in partnering financially with us in the hurricane relief efforts.
She said she was on her way out of the country but before she left she was going to send a check and when she got back in the country, she wanted to set up a meeting with us about partnering long term.
Today was that meeting! I won't go into the details about that meeting but... God NEVER does anything small when HE wants to show off!
The man who started this philanthropic foundation died in 2011 and so Danielle told us all about him. I hope you will be just as inspired by his story as I was!
She described him as extrinsic and he had a "thing" for Snoopy! Yes, Snoopy the dog! As a matter of fact, when he didn't have much, he would always have 3 or 4 little "snoopies" in his pocket and he would just give them out to children to make their day... put a smile on a little child's face!
Well, as I heard Oprah say one time, "Money only makes you more of what you already are." So, if you were generous when you had nothing, then when you are rich, you become a very generous rich person but if you were stingy and greedy when you were poor then you are only going to become a wealthy stingy and greedy person.
This man became VERY WEALTHY in his lifetime and he became a VERY GENEROUS man. His entire life he collected Snoopy memorabilia... as a matter of fact, you could say his office suite is decorated in "Snoopy."
There are pictures of him dressed up as Snoopy at children's events. She said until the end of his life, he always had 3 or 4 little Snoopies' in his pocket even though he would also get out his checkbook and write large checks too.
I walked away and thought about how many people I have heard say, "If I were wealthy, I would be very generous." Well, what do you love? Would it be possible to invest $5 and buy a 3 or 4 and put them in your pocket and try to give them out to someone and make their day?
You see that practice would MAKE you look at your everyday world... your neighborhood, your bus stop, your grocery store crowd, etc and you would look into people's faces and eyes and you would notice that you have something to give to them!
I don't think we are trained to look around our world through "giving" eyes, we are trained to either go into auto pilot or "see what is in for me."
And... here is a secret.... the Bible says "He who is faithful in little will be given more." One day you might be able to give away more than a snoopy too!
I dare you... take $5 and buy your version of 3 or 4 "Snoopies" and become a philanthropist. And... here is the last secret... you actually benefit more than the person that you give to!
Beware: Generosity is highly addictive!
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