Share Your Story (Meet Melody, aka Whiplash Girl)

Because I'm always inspired by your thoughts, your ideas, and your writing, I deeply desire a way to include more of you in my blog. Plus, let's get real, I love it when bloggy friends visit my space and share ideas about giving. So with this in mind, I created Share Your Story. In Share Your Story posts, guest bloggers submit their giving related stories, and I post them.

Simple.

Here's the not so simple part; I want real-deal stories. Not the Pollyanna-ish, everyone in your family loves to give stories or the you-are-so-holy-your-feet-float-off-the-ground-stories, but I want to hear about the struggles your family faces when giving. I want to hear about practical ways to serve. I want to hear how your family gives when you don't have the time or the money to give. I want to hear about giving gone wrong, and oh, of course, I want to hear about giving gone right. I want to hear things like this:

"I fall into long bouts of 'all about me' seasons, and then I get so disgusted with it. I prune away the abudance and give, give, give, and then I find myself going back to collecting, collecting, collecting stuff again. My heart's desire is to give generously, and hopefully one day, I won't be whiplash girl but a more steady giver."

Ah yes, meet Melody. In this Share Your Story post, Melody talks about drive-by donations, and she challenges us to get to know the hearts of those on the "needy" lists. Here's Melody-

I remember having a conversation with a Christian woman about the needy people in our area. She is a very generous person and has a wonderful heart. She talked about how her family will adopt another family each year at Christmas, and her family will anonymously drop off presents on the doorstep. Sometimes they will leave bags of food on the steps or other gifts to help meet specific needs. The families this woman donates to are usually families that are referred through the Department of Family and Children Services. Sometimes these needy families can be quite scary and intimidating.

The more we talked, the more I heard her fears of these "type" of people rubbing off on her family. There was a strong desire for a healthy distance to be maintained. In all the years of giving, they had never made face-to-face contact.

I almost pictured “drive-by donations” taking place. Where they open the sliding van door while still moving, and thrust the bag of goods onto the porch and then screech away on two wheels while saying a quick prayer. Who knows, maybe they even wore black stocking masks.

I understand it though. It’s risky loving the unlovely. You could be misunderstood by others when you get too close to the unlovely. You just might be accused of being someone you’re not. Not to mention the things you and your children could be exposed to.

But it’s what Jesus did. Think about Jesus and his reputation for a second. He hung out with prostitutes, cheaters, and gamblers. He went to parties with the ungodly, on their turf. Jesus did not sit around and debate the distinctives of faith all day long with the disciples, nor did He pray for the least and lost all day long. He got in the middle of them and got to know them; He loved them, and He taught them truth. I don’t picture Him loving and giving at an arm's length away.

I love this Christian woman that does drive-by donations because she has encouraged her family to think of someone besides themselves, and I think there is a place for anonymous giving. She and her family help greatly by assiting those in need.

But I wonder how it might make a difference if they walked up to that apartment doorstep and introduced themselves. Not for recognition but so a “next step” could be made. Maybe the next step is giving a bag of clothes and talking for a while. . . getting to know a tiny bit of the heart behind the name on the “needy list”.

And what if, over time, this family actually sat at their dinner table one night. Imagine what God might do through an invitation like that. We only have a little bit of time on this earth to point people to Jesus Christ. Thank God someone reached out to us in the midst of our junk.

Want to hear more from Melody? Stop by her blog for a quick visit and see what this "sort-of-sassy pastor's wife" has to say. Oh, and I can't wait for you to Share Your Story. Click here for more information.

*Photo credit for girl with clay heart:Gabriela Camerotti.Fliker, Creative Commons.