So Much More

Image via Wikipedia I am a tightwad by nature.  I don't say this with pride, just a statement of fact.  Sometimes this is a useful attribute.  For instance, in the economic downturn, I have not had to change my lifestyle much.

Sometimes this is not a useful attribute.  Sometimes I am stingy in giving.  The reason that my mission statement includes generosity as  a goal is because this is a challenge for me and when I review my mission statement on a daily basis, I remind myself of this goal.  I push myself to find ways to be generous, not just with money but also with time, with talents, resources and encouragement.

In the process of promoting my book, Wyatt the Wonder Dog Learns About Good Manners, I was reminded of the law of generosity which states that to receive you must give.  One evening this week I was quite discouraged about not meeting my goal for the week of copies sold.  I found myself becoming very focused on the cost of publishing the book, the cost of buying my author's copies to sell  and the number of books that I would need to sell just to recoup that cost.  Publishing a children's book with color pictures is not cheap!  Finally, I decided that I would quit focusing on the cost of the book because it was causing my perspective to become skewed.  I didn't publish the book to make money.  I published the book to encourage children to be better problem solvers.  Once I made this decision, my whole world changed.  While at a choir production at church, I ran into an old friend.  She asked about the book and I told her it was now published and I gave her a copy.  After the show was over, someone from her table at the show, came up to me and told me that she was so impressed with my book that she wanted to buy three copies and share it with the principal at their school.  How exciting!  What a great example of how when we change our perspective and focus on others, our world is suddenly filled with the abundance that God has planned for us all along.  Lesson learned.

Amaziah said..., "But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?"  The man of God answered, "The Lord is able to give you much more than this."
-2 Chronicles 25:9