Way back in the day (circa 1999) I was a poor college student.  Life was grand!  I didn’t need much and was happy eating cold pizza everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (No joke!  It was only $3.99 for a large from Mr. Gatti’s and it was a full days worth of meals!)  Back then, my biggest struggle was passing my Calculus class but I never REALLY worried about money.  My bank account would get below $100 and I could make that money stretch… I also worked three jobs one summer and knew I could hold out until the next paycheck.  I was one of the lucky students who’s parents were paying my rent, so really what did I have to worry about?

Then one weekend I went home and attended my parent’s church…who just so happened to have a missionary visiting  that Sunday.  He spoke for a few minutes, then they took up an offering to help support him.  Honestly, I don’t remember a word the missionary said or even where he was from.  What I clearly remember, as if it were yesterday,  was sitting in my seat having some WORDS with God.  I kept having this “feeling” like I should give $50 to a man I knew nothing about.  I didn’t even attend this church, I was just visiting!  AND I had very little money sitting in my bank account.  It all made absolutely NO sense.

Something inside me gave into the overwhelming nudge from God and I quickly wrote a check for $50 and placed it in the offering basket.

On the 2 hour drive back to school later that day, I had a dialog with God about how crazy of a request it was to ask me to give that much money, when he knew there wasn’t much there in the first place.   When I got back to the house I shared with 3 other girls, I had hashed it all out.  I just thought I would have to work a little harder that week to make up the money.

A couple of days later my roommate told me I had a letter.  It wasn’t uncommon back in “those days”, so I didn’t think much about it.  The return address was from this really sweet couple who had gone to my church when I was in high school.  A little odd that they would send me a letter!?  What was even more odd, was what was inside.  There was a check for $100 and the note said, “We just thought you could use some extra spending money.”

God had knocked me in the face.  I was obedient in what little I had and he provided.  He used me to bless someone I didn’t even know and in return he had shown me that HE would always take care of me.

The day I got that letter was truly a turning point in my faith.

There are still days that I struggle with what HE has asked me to do.  It’s not always about money and I don’t always see my “fruits” doubled, but  it took that day in college to dramatically alter my reaction when He asks me to step out in FAITH.

This world is full of hurt, poverty and if we can be honest, pure evil at times.   I know I sometimes feel that one person isn’t going to make a difference…but that is not true.  One person can set off a chain of events that can bring about change in this world.

My family recently sponsored a child through Compassion International.  Our sponsorship is not only making a difference in a 7 year old girl in Honduras, but it’s teaching my girls how to love others!

Have you ever considered sponsoring a child?   There is NOTHING small in drastically changing the life of another human being!