Blessed 2 Bless 2B Blessed

The Lord of Heaven blessed me this year with a number of gift cards for Starbucks, people who know me know that it is definitely close to an addiction in my life. Today my wife, our oldest daughter and myself visited one of the Starbucks in the mall, I ordered a tall caramel frap, a tall and a grande strawberry and cream frap, much to my delight the total cost was just over eight dollars...it should have been closer to twelve! As the barrister went over my order we quickly discovered she had missed mine, the larger one, I told her I'd get my trusty gift card out again to which she replied, "Don't Worry About It!" I was taken aback and insisted, no she said, I've got it! Looking around I noticed the tip jar, assumed it would be split by the many, so I took out a five and said, "Well, you take this!", she tried to resist but I smiled, insisted, and walked off, she stood there grinning and my daughter seemed pleased.

This year I probably received 45.00 in Starbucks gift cards, the one I usually drink is 4.00, that's eleven cups of coffee, that's a caffeine heaven, it also became an opportunity to be be a blessing and to be blessed.

God blesses us in order to be a blessing, nothing is meant to be kept totally, we may not always give all of our stuff away, but once we've been blessed we need to look for the opportunity to bless others. I left feeling like I had given a hundred bucks away, when in truth, it was just a dollar over the price of the drink she blessed me with. There was something about giving that money to that young lady that made me feel like a minister!

I'm not meaning to brag, please don't misunderstand, I use this example because it's fresh to me, I want to be a blesser, to impact others without any reason or without seeking a return, if we do, there will be a return, in fact, it will be instant, you will obtain the joy of giving, of imparting something of value into the lives of others and that is powerful.

What would happen this year if we determined to be blessers? What if beyond our normal giving of tithe and offerings, missions and other types of giving, we looked for opportunities to bless people, whether it be a financial blessing, a card or email, a gift, a book, or just a phone call? Wonder how many people we could encourage in the next 365 days? What if once a month we did something out of the norm? Here's a thought, what if you blessed someone you have had a hard time with, knowing that they may not respond initially in a positive manner? Let's try it and see what the Lord will do in our lives!

Happy New Year!