Tag Archives: William F. High

Unexpected Generosity

What Is This Gift?

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by William F. High

What is one of the most underappreciated jobs? I travel enough, and the big thing these days is for hotels to offer you a “free” breakfast. Well, that free breakfast means that someone has to get up by 4:30 a.m., arrive at the hotel and begin setting up—mainly a lot of pre-made stuff to which no pride of chefdom is accompanied. There’s a lot of cleaning up of dishes, picking up oatmeal goo still left in bowls, surrounded by still sleepy guests too busy to notice.

But magic happened to me recently. In one of the hotels I stay, I came across Diana, the breakfast hostess. She’s short, with raven hair, flashing eyes, and a strong accent. She hustles around the little breakfast area and in her broken English busts in on conversations of business-focused guests. Somehow, she makes them smile and she laughs—heartily.

I noticed, and I asked Diana: “What makes you so happy?” She told me, “I just happy.” And I asked what brought her to this country, and at that her eyes darkened, “My sister…she is sick.” A debilitating disease. So Diana picked up, left her homeland to serve her sister and her family.

I had to leave, and Diana was off to another customer anyhow. But on my next visit in town, I needed breakfast and there was Diana again. Still moving fast, still smiling, still laughing—so I caught up to her and asked her, “How is your sister?” It had been a couple of months since I’d seen her and she didn’t remember that I knew her secret. “How do you know about my sister?”

And then she remembered, “Ah yes, you asked the last time.” She brightened again and told me she was doing well, and skipped off. As I gulped down my breakfast, I couldn’t help sense the nudge, and I pulled out a bigger bill for a tip—bigger than the pre-made buffet breakfast meal deserved. I called Diana out of the kitchen and pressed the bill in her hand. “God bless you for taking care of your sister. Thank you for giving,” I said.

Her breath shortened, and her eyes moistened as she fanned her face and choked, “I’m going to cry.”

As I left there, I couldn’t help but think the gift deserves the gift. Diana’s sacrifice, her energy in serving, the smile, the laughter deserved a response.

And as I write now, here at Christmas, I cannot help but think of Jesus. He left a home, left his Father, left what was comfortable to serve in a place among bleary-eyed, inattentive travelers. But even still, He served, He touched, He healed and He brought joy to a darkened world. Oh today, even today, the gift, His gift, deserves our devotion, our attention, our gift. Christmas.

Career Generosity, Irrational Generosity, Purposeful Generosity, Reading the Book, Uncomfortable Generosity

5 Verses that will change the way you think about generosity

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The paths that everyone’s generosity journey takes is always different. However, during the interview process for The Generosity Bet, some of the story contributors shared unique and even unfamiliar Scripture verses that radically altered their understanding of generosity:

Pastor Rick Warren, cropped1. Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

“Two things I asked of You. Do not refuse me before I die: keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” – Proverbs 30:7-9

“Everybody talks about the Prayer of Jabez, but you ought to learn to pray the Prayer of Agur where he says, ‘Lord don’t let me become too poor or too rich, but just give me what I need.’

“…I believe there’s a direct connection between maturity and money, between spiritual power and possession, between how much God is able to bless me and how good a money manager I am. And if God cannot trust you with material blessing, He’s not going to give you spiritual power. And I’m far more interested in the power and the anointing and the blessing of God.”

2. Craig & April Chapman, INRIX Chapman, CraigApril

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” – Malachi 3:10

“Our goal in life–and our security–was all about financial independence and worldly success. But things changed when April and I [Craig] were married in 1994. We had both been previously married, and both brought significant debt into our marriage. But, in spite of our difficult financial situation, our opinion of biblical giving changed very quickly. April was introduced to Malachi 3:10 and shared with me that it is the only place in the Bible where God asks us to test Him. We both knew in our hearts that if we truly loved God, it was only right that we obey His command to give.”

Barnhart, Alan3. Alan Barnhart, Barnhart Crane & Rigging

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” – I Timothy 6:9

“I had a natural tendency, maybe everyone does, to want more stuff, to want nice stuff. I wanted to counteract that, not only for myself, but also for my family. When my family and I looked at going into business, we saw as a dangerous thing if we succeeded. So we decided, ‘Let’s not do this unless we put some safeguards in our lives to make this business a positive thing rather than a negative.’ We set out not to get rich. We set out to avoid becoming rich.”

4. Henry Kaestner, Sovereign’s Capital Kaestner, Henry

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” – II Corinthians 8:9

“A friend challenged me to answer why I gave. I said something about God giving us a lot so we wanted to give back. However, in the back of my mind, I was thinking that my wife and I were probably giving 20% now—double tithing. There’s probably a place in Heaven for the double-tithers. And I was thinking that God would be happy with our giving because He needed our money to fund things that weren’t being funded. Ultimately, it was bad theology.

“That question brought me back to passages like 2 Corinthians 8:9 where it explains the difference between wealth and poverty. God took two loaves and five fish and fed two thousand. He doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts.”

Elliott, Vince5. Vince Elliott, Fortiter Wealth Management

“Otherwise you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” – Deuteronomy 8:18

“I’m a financial advisor who thinks money isn’t very important. In fact, I think wealth may be more dangerous to your family than a blessing. My role in client’s lives is to help them keep money in its proper place and help clients pursue their true roles. I know the man you claim to be, and I’m going to walk alongside you to help you remain that man because money will change who you are. The only way to keep that from happening is to hold wealth with an open hand.”

What verses have shaped your understanding of generosity?