out of poverty
I'm thinking of skipping Thanksgiving this year. I love Thanksgiving. The food. The concept of focusing on and expressing our gratitude. But when you're blessed beyond measure by 8 tiny humans and only a fraction of them like turkey and you are well aware of the physical exhaustion that will result from cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal on your own, a new pizza bagel tradition sounds pretty solid. Plus, I maintain that 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas is just not enough time to enjoy all of the Christmas cheer.
Alas, the turkey lovers will win the battle and we will celebrate Thanksgiving, but the idea of glossing right over Thanksgiving and into Christmas got me thinking, maybe we could combine them and have Christgiving. I stumbled upon it really, but how much do I love this idea? And isn't that really the point of Christmas, isn't it about Christgiving, Christ given to the world, an opportunity for us to give Christ to others. And so I look at the following verses, a passage of scripture where Jesus highlights someone else's giving.
“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”
Out of her poverty she put in all she had.
“pov·er·ty
NOUN
1. the state of being extremely poor
2. the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount”
When we think of poverty we tend to think of money. And certainly it applies. It involves being extremely poor. Not "I can't get a new phone" or "I can't go to Starbucks this week" poor, but extremely poor. But it's the second part of that definition that I really want to look at: the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. Poverty is not only a financial concept.
Maybe you are not lacking money to the point of being extremely poor. So how do we give out of poverty? We have to look for where we are impoverished. Do you have qualities that are inferior? I know. In our culture of empowerment and self esteem that sounds odd, mean even, but follow me through on this. I'll be nice. I promise! I am going to be honest though. I have qualities that are lacking. Patience. Mercy. Oh, yes.
When one of my kids was a toddler, she hurt her finger, and when I say she hurt her finger, I mean she was completely, 100%, perfectly fine. She fussed about it all. day. long. By the time 5:30 and WonderHubs rolled around, I was about to lose my mind. I had given the finger fusser a Band-Aid. We had iced it. 6 hours later she was still complaining and making whiney noises. So when WonderHubs walked in and the finger fusser increased her volume, I calmly and nicely (HA!) suggested that maybe he should take a look at it since I'd been trying for 6 hours to fix what wasn't broken. He sat down with her, asked to see it, and...wait for it...kissed her finger. <face palm> I hadn't kissed the finger. It never even crossed my radar. The finger was not bleeding profusely or swollen and discolored. Walk it off! Toddlers will not accept "Walk it off" as a valid healing method. I have a poverty of patience and mercy.
Do you have resources that seem insufficient? Time anyone? Yaaaasss! I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I want to do, or even should do. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
What about just yourself? When you're steeped in the juices of motherhood, it's easy to lose sight of yourself. If even in a moment of quiet, you can't figure out who you are, how can you give yourself away?
All of these are areas in which we can experience poverty. When you just don't have time and you can't even remember the last time you showered, but you put a meal together to bring to a new mama, you're giving out of your poverty. When you are just done, out of patience and in need of a break, but you see the weight of the world on your husband's shoulders and suggest he go fishing during bedtime routines, you're giving out of your poverty, Mama! When you're so tired that you can barely keep your eyes open and the teenager walks into your room and wants to talk or the friend calls and just needs someone to listen and you don't send the teenager to bed or let the phone go to voicemail, you're giving out of your poverty. When you couldn't get an answer right in the Newlywed Game when the questions were only about you, but you open up and have the vulnerable conversations or find a way to serve another, you're giving out of your poverty.
It's always easier to give out of our abundance. If I'm low on time, but have the funds, it's easier to make a financial donation than to give my time. When I've got the time, but not the patience, it's easier to just put the conversation off. Giving out of your poverty takes intentionality, it won't just happen. But I can't help but to think that the reward will be great. Jesus called this woman, giving the very last of what she had away, to the attention of His disciples. We're not told what happened to this woman, but even if she died in her poverty on this side of Heaven, how beautiful to be known in Heaven as the "woman who gave all she had."
We're coming up on a beautiful season of giving. It would be so easy to give out of the abundance, to give the extra away. But this year, will you give out of your poverty? Will you be known in the Heavenly realms as one who "gave all she had"? Will you give away your last and meet God at the intersection of your resources and His?
