Elevated Friday, March 8th, 2019

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story of patient giving that truly blessed one young man’s life. In Norman, Arkansas, two high schoolers, Tanner and Brandon, are best friends and have been for years. Brandon, however, lives life from the confines of a wheelchair. While that has not limited their friendship, the manual wheelchair Brandon has does limit his ability to get around between classes. Each day, Brandon is exhausted from pushing his own chair all day. Unbeknownst to Brandon, for the last two year Tanner has been saving his paychecks from his job at the local auto repair shop to buy Brandon something he has always wanted: an electric wheelchair. Recently, Tanner was finally able to purchase the wheelchair to surprise Brandon. Brandon could barely contain his emotions at the incredible gift! Tanner’s generosity shows that giving can be a patient endeavor just as much as it can be an impulsive one.

Jesus called each of us to live a giving life, and he embodied that type of life himself. We all scrimp and save our money for our families, future retirement, houses, cars and other big purchases. But how many of us think the same way about giving? Sometimes we forget that giving does not always have to be an instantaneous, empty-out-your-pockets-now type of action. It can also be patient and goal-oriented if we see a specific need that needs meeting. Saving our money in order to give it away is all part of living a giving life. Today, search your community and network and consider what needs you could meet if you saved for a period with that need in mind.

“And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.” — 2 Corinthians 8:10-12 NIV

Original Article:

https://bit.ly/2ELbSQH