Generosity: It\u2019s what my heart beats for. It\u2019s what I wake up every day crazy passionate about.
Giving: For nearly two decades now it\u2019s literally what I get paid to do. I\u2019m a professional, for goodness sakes.
Fundraising: I\u2019ve written about it and created curriculum to teach others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s safe to say this generosity, giving, fundraising thing is kind of my jam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A heart for giving<\/strong> I will never forget the day a hardcore bottom-line business owner, who had a reputation for being a little rough-around-the-edges, came into my office like a kid in a candy shop. He exclaimed, \u201cConnie! We\u2019ve got money to give away!\u201d as if he\u2019d just won the lottery. I remember telling the Lord, \u201cI want some of that.\u201d I want to barely be able to contain myself when it comes to giving. I want to have that heart, that attitude, that joy. I want to be a generous giver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A new lens on generosity<\/strong> \u201cWait,\u201d I thought. \u201cI have to be a good receiver in order to be a generous giver?\u201d Talk about an oxymoron. It wasn\u2019t long before I realized my stumbling block was my pride masquerading as false humility. I want to meet needs, but I don\u2019t want to be in need<\/em>. I want to serve others, but I don\u2019t want to be served<\/em>. I want to help others, but I don\u2019t want to need help<\/em>. Peel back the layers and pride is at the root.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sounds a bit like Peter in John 13:8 (NIV). \u201cNo,\u201d said Peter, \u201cyou shall never wash my feet.\u201d Or the legend of the man stranded in the ocean who boasted how God would surely save him only to reject the ocean liner, the speed boat, and the helicopter that the Lord sent to rescue him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learning to receive<\/strong> This lesson hits home for me on a much more personal level, even as I write this today. My children surprised my husband and me with a generous gift from friends, family, and others in our community who\u2019ve come together to support us during a hard and trying season. My husband has been on a very complex and somewhat mysterious health journey for the past six months which has included five hospital stays, four ER trips, a whole slew of medical specialists, and, as of this month, a crushing cancer diagnosis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a season we didn\u2019t want, didn\u2019t choose and flat out don\u2019t like, it\u2019s generosity (and humbling ourselves to receive it) that changes everything. The gifts of prayers, encouragement, hugs, counsel, shoulders to cry on, meals, smiles, support and so on. It\u2019s the generosity of others that keeps our heads lifted and our hearts full. So I say, \u201cTake a hike pride. I ain\u2019t got no time for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other\u2019s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>John 13:14-15 (NIV)<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n At NCF we say \u201cLove Gives: Because everything we are and everything we have is His.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord, may we be beautiful reflections of Your Love as we learn to be good receivers of Your love so that we can be generous givers of Your love in return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Generosity: It\u2019s what my heart beats for. It\u2019s what I wake up every day crazy passionate about. Giving: For nearly two decades now it\u2019s literally what I get paid to do. I\u2019m a professional, for goodness sakes. Fundraising: I\u2019ve written about it and created curriculum to teach others. It\u2019s safe to say this generosity, giving, fundraising thing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":310,"parent":0,"menu_order":88,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-309","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/309\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/heartland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
From day one, I\u2019ve been completely captivated by the remarkably generous people I have the honor of serving at National Christian Foundation (NCF). Through their generosity, NCF has been privileged to facilitate more than $11 billion in grants to 65,000 charities across the world. I mean, who wouldn\u2019t want to be a part of that? They embody generosity, and it\u2019s contagious<\/em>. I can\u2019t help myself. I find myself craving opportunities to be generous; to be a blessing; to make a difference; to have an impact; to build a legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord nudged me – like He often does – with a gentle but firm reminder: \u201cThat\u2019s adorable, Connie. But you know the path to be a generous giver starts with being a good receiver, and you\u2019ve got some work to do there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our capacity to give comes from our ability to receive. We have nothing to give that we haven\u2019t received from the Lord. This truth is something I\u2019ve been working to build muscles in for 20 years. I have taught many times over the years that \u2018giving is good for the giver\u2019 and that the journey of generosity is one full of joy and adventure. If I\u2019m not a good receiver then I can inadvertently deny others from experiencing that joy and adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n