Chet and Diana Stewart believe in the transformative power of generosity – how it brings joy and opens hearts to the love of God. That’s why their story is not just about giving; it’s about passing on the invaluable gift of generosity to generations.
A foundation of faith and giving
Chet and Diana were both raised in families that emphasized generosity, mostly by giving their “firstfruits” to God. Diana says that when her father started dating her mother, one of the first questions he asked was, “Are you a tither?” It was the middle of the Great Depression, so he was thankful she was. Otherwise, Diana says, she and her siblings may not be here today.
While Chet and Diana remember bringing their offerings to church each Sunday to put in the offering plate, they also grew up believing generosity was a private matter. “I knew that my parents were generous,” Chet says. “But they never told us what they gave because that would be like bragging.”
Possibly more impactful than their upbringing, however, is their line of work. After finishing college and serving in the military, Chet moved to Albuquerque to become a partner in his grandfather’s funeral home business. While learning the ropes of the business and working on earning his license, Chet met a beautiful University of New Mexico student. “Diana was the only girl I ever dated that I thought I might marry,” Chet says.
And he was right. Chet and Diana got married. They bought a third interest in the family funeral home business. Then, three days after announcing their partnership in the local newspaper, Chet’s grandfather passed away suddenly, leaving Chet, then only 26, to run the business.
“Our work has affected how we view what God has given us,” Chet says. “I learned early on that you aren’t really ready to live until you’re prepared to die. And if you’re ready to die, your living is going to be much more meaningful.”
While raising their three sons, Chet and Diana carried on the generosity impressed upon them when they were young. They tithed regularly and looked for ways to be generous in their community. They added another member to their family – a young man who had come to play football at the University of New Mexico. But it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that the journey toward a deeper understanding of giving began.
As Chet tells it, four events occurred in the span of a couple months that gave them a greater understanding of giving from a biblical perspective. God was trying to get their attention.
Altering the course of giving
Chet and Diana were making the three-hour drive from their home in Albuquerque to Silver City, New Mexico, to see Diana’s parents. A friend had given them a sermon on a cassette tape by John Ortberg entitled, “Who’s the Owner?” They played the tape as they embarked on their journey.
When they arrived back in Albuquerque, they had listened to the sermon three times. Through John Ortberg’s talk on biblical generosity, God was challenging Chet and Diana to reimagine the role of giving in their lives.
The second event came when, shortly after their trip to Silver City, Chet and Diana were invited to an event hosted by the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The speaker, Peter Ueberroth (the former director of the 1984 Olympics and then Major League Baseball Commissioner), had come to spark philanthropy in the community.
Diana remembers him saying, “If you want to have a powerful impact on your kids, don’t give them money they can spend on themselves. Give them money they have to give away. Trust me, it’ll change their lives.”
Diana and Chet nudged each other, asking, “Can we really do that?” Not only was God challenging them to redefine their own generosity, he was sparking a desire to spread the joy of generosity to others, beginning with their family.
If there was any doubt in Chet and Diana’s mind about the message God was sending in these pivotal weeks, it vanished when they were invited to a special screening of the movie The Ultimate Gift. Based on the book by the same title, the movie centers around an adult grandson who, instead of getting a hefty inheritance of millions of dollars when his very wealthy grandfather passes away, is given a series of tasks that teach him the gift of generosity.
But the most significant moment arrived when a friend asked Chet to help recruit local pastors to attend a Journey of Generosity in Dallas. Having worked in the funeral home business for 30 years, Chet had a lot of pastor contacts, but he had never heard of Generous Giving, the organization that created the experience. He agreed to send letters inviting local pastors and ended up taking more than 50 pastors to the event.
After attending the event, Chet came home, told Diana all about it, and they booked their travel for Generous Giving’s next Celebration of Generosity in Portland. This is when they were introduced to the National Christian Foundation (NCF) and learned how to make their giving more effective.
Spreading the gift of generosity
Chet and Diana weren’t just inspired to change their giving. They were inspired to spread the gift of generosity to others. And in each of the 18 years that followed (with the exception of the COVID years), they have attended a Celebration of Generosity, Generous Giving’s annual conference. Each time, they invite a handful of couples, offering to pay for them to attend and encouraging them to pass along the gift if they were blessed by it.
But the people they most enjoy sharing generosity with are their kids, daughters-in-law, and grandkids. Inspired by Peter Ueberroth’s message and impressed by NCF’s giving solutions, they encouraged their children to open Giving Funds to which they contribute money so their children can experience the joy of generosity, too.
They also decided they wanted their grandkids to experience the joy of giving. Each year, near the end of summer, Chet and Diana give their grandchildren cash for giving. This money comes with instructions to choose a cause, give the money away, and report back to them around Christmas.
Chet and Diana say their favorite present each Christmas is the report they get from their grandkids – sometimes in person, sometimes in an email, sometimes on a video – that includes who they gave their money to, why they gave it to them, the impact it had on them in giving it, and the impact it had on who they gave it to.
The first year, their youngest grandkids made a video of going grocery shopping and helping stock the shelves of the local food pantry. Diana remembers her grandson’s incredulous question on the video: “Nana, did you know there are kids in our neighborhood who don’t have enough to eat?”
“They have an Italian-American family,” Diana says of her grandkids. “Their kitchen is busy all the time. He could not conceive of people not having enough to eat.”
Another year, two of their teenage granddaughters were getting their hair cut and discussing how they were going to give away their money from their grandparents that year. The hairdresser overheard, was blown away by the tradition, and not only refused payment but said she would take the money she would have earned from their haircuts and give it away.
Chet and Diana say their kids all serve the Lord and love to give. “And they do it joyfully,” Diana says. “We think that’s why they have joy,” Chet says. “Because they give.”
Opening hearts to God
But joy is not the main reason Chet and Diana feel called to spread the practice of giving. They have seen, over and over again (in their own lives as well as the lives of others), how God works through acts of humble generosity.
Chet’s older brother rebelled against his Christian upbringing. He described himself as the “black sheep” of the family. He would roll his eyes at his family’s faith. When he was older, his daughter passed away suddenly. It rocked his world. Chet began spending more time with him, eventually encouraging him to be generous with some of the money he’d made in his successful printing business.
He decided to give away $50,000, choosing four organizations to give $10,000 each and letting Chet pick a fifth. Chet chose an organization he’d been involved with that was assisting the homeless population in their community. One day, they drove around to the offices of all five organizations and handed each a $10,000 check.
Chet says that day, the joy and freedom of radical generosity began to change his brother’s heart. By the time he passed away at the age of 80, he had come back to his faith, professing Jesus as his Lord and Savior. “We really believe that when he opened his heart to giving, he opened his heart to God,” Chet says.
A far-reaching legacy
Over the last several decades, Chet and Diana have continued to show their love for others by spreading the gift of generosity. And through their obedience, God has changed more lives than they can count – not only the lives they have personally affected, but the lives touched by the generosity each of those people have shown.
“Facing the reality of eternity is something you think about when you see death all the time,” Chet says about the work they do. “Being in the funeral business, we often would say there are no trailers behind hearses. You can’t take it with you. So if you want to bring joy to your life, do your giving while you are living.”
Chet and Diana Stewart want everyone to experience the joy of generosity. That’s why their focus is not only on the causes they support, but also on encouraging and enabling those around them to give. They have seen the transformative power of generosity in car rides and hair salons, movie theaters and conference rooms. Most importantly, they have seen God at work in the hearts of those they love.
“It’s an amazing thing to see what happens when people become generous,” Chet says. “It will open their hearts to God, because he is the greatest giver of all.”
