The Stranger’s Gift

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias Inc. and its advertiser #100MillionReasons . All opinions are mine alone.

I have a heart for giving, and I love blessing people with the gifts I have received. I don’t consider anything I have, my own, and for that reason I try to hold everything with open hands. I greatly enjoy reading stories online of people who go above and beyond to bless those around them. These stories make me feel alive and joyful. To be honest, I never imagined that one day I would be on the receiving end of a gift that would renew my faith in God.

Almost four years ago this November my husband told me that he wanted a divorce. As I’m sure you can imagine, my world was turned upside down. I felt like I was in a room that was spinning wildly out of control. I knew God was with me, but I questioned everything I had ever believed about God. How could God allow this? What would I do? How would I provide for four children? Questions ran through my mind day and night.

I continued going to church every Sunday even though I could hardly make it through a sermon without sobbing silently in my pew. I would sit there every Sunday with all four of my children who were also desperately hurting. Then one Sunday a man I had never seen before was sitting in the only pew with enough room for all of us. I instantly thought about how distracting we would be to him and wished I could sit in a seat alone with the kids, so we didn’t bother anyone.

After the service ended this stranger, who had no idea my life was falling apart looked at me and said “I don’t know why, but God told me to give this to you.” I must have looked stunned because he wished me and the kids a Merry Christmas, and he was gone. I never saw him again. When I got to the car, I unrolled a warm $100 bill. Tears were streaming down my face as I praised God. Not because I needed the money and he provided, but because He gave me a tangible sign that He had me in the palm of His hands and would take care of me.

There have been other times when people have blessed me by paying for a meal, paying for my coffee, and sending an anonymous check, but that story has had the biggest impact on me. It reminded me that even when we don’t understand why we are called to give, we never know how big the impact can be, even in the smallest gifts!

I will never forget what that stranger did for me. When I’m blessed with the extra money, I love to give to charities. When I don’t have money, I try to get creative in giving my time, donating goods, or just being aware of opportunities to give back.

 

If you don’t currently have money to donate to a cause, look for other ways you can give back. I went to Walgreens a few days ago and purchased our Back-To-School vitamins. We don’t usually take vitamins all year long, but I do like to add vitamins back into our daily routine a few weeks before school begins. My hope is that the children are less likely to get sick when we cover all of our bases! While there are many vitamin options to choose from at Walgreens, I chose Centrum Vitamins because they donate 1% of the proceeds to Vitamin Angels.

For more than 20 years, Vitamin Angels has been helping pregnant women, new moms, and children under five gain access to essential vitamins and minerals. Walgreens and Vitamin Angel have teamed up to bring 100 million moms and children the vitamins we often take for granted. So head over to Walgreens to purchase your vitamins, and you can give back just by choosing the Centrum brand. Everyone deserves a chance to live a healthy life, and I love that I can help others by purchasing items I was already planning to buy. Giving doesn’t get much easier than that.

Oh, and if that isn’t enough of an incentive you will also receive 10,000 Balance Reward points when you spend $30 or more on eligible Centrum products! Now you tell me. What is your favorite way to give? Has anyone ever given you a gift that had an enormous impact on your life?