Some time back, my wife had gotten a phone call from one of the banks that she does business with in her job at the car dealership.
It seems that they had been running a promotion and she was to receive a gift card from the bank in the amount of $900.00. Rather than spend the money on ourselves or on Christmas presents, she felt led to donate it to one of the local shelters that has a special place in her heart. It’s an organization called Sheltering Wings.
Tucked away in an outlying area of Indianapolis, Sheltering Wings houses women and their dependent children who suffer from domestic violence and abuse. Just this year, they were honored by the White House Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. You can visit their website and see their award-winning video here.
When the gift cards arrived, she called and made an appointment for us to deliver them. The facility itself is highly secure and it helps if they know you’re coming.
Before we left the house, we said a simple prayer of thanks for our being able to be a blessing to others and asked the Lord to multiply our gift.
Following a tour of this incredible facility, we had presented them with the gift cards. My wife mentioned that we had prayed over the cards asking God to multiply the gift.
We really didn’t give it much thought after that. Until the phone rang about 10 days later.
The lady that we had presented the card to was on the phone. Crying. Tears of joy.
It took her a while, but she was finally able to relate to us the series of events that had just taken place.
Just a day or so after our visit it seems a lady from here in Indianapolis had traveled to Chicago to visit the Oprah show. While there, she was chosen at random from the audience, along with a group of others, to receive a $1,000.00 gift card.
These gifts carried a condition – the recipient had to spend it on someone else.
This lady chose to spend it on Sheltering Wings. She called the facility and got the coat sizes for each of the shelter’s occupants and then she went shopping to buy winter coats for them.
Visiting a local department store, she soon discovered that there wasn’t nearly enough to buy all the coats that were needed.
As she expressed her disappointment to the store’s clerk, the general manager happened to come over. Upon hearing her story, the general manager told her to continue her shopping spree and get coats for everyone.
The store was going to make up the difference. She was also told to be sure to pick out new hats and gloves to go with the new coats.
After making the delivery to the shelter, this lady returned to work. It seems she was employed by a locally based company that is well known for philanthropy.
Overjoyed with the events that had just taken place, she related the story of the department store’s generosity to everyone that would listen.
It only took a short while for the news to reach the company’s management. A couple of quick phone calls were made, and then – the company wrote out a matching check and asked her to personally deliver it to the shelter.
*************************
It sure is tempting to want to interject something about how this relates to the troubled economic times we are going through, but I’m going to spare you.
I think it’s enough for us to recognize that God is the one really in control of our economy – yours and ours. And if we stay obedient, He will take care of us.
Speak Your Mind