Unintentional Giving

Luke 3:11 states: "In reply he said to them, 'Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”" You might say I almost obeyed unintentionally, but with a special pair of gloves.

Yesterday I braved the 23 degree temperature to make a trip to Hy-Vee. When I entered the store, I removed my gloves and placed them on my lap while I mailed a letter before shopping. Of course, it never occurred to me to put them back in my coat pocket, so I didn't realize until checking out that they had fallen off my lap. Searching every aisle and checking with lost and found, they were still missing so I left my name and phone number, and returned home.

What concerned me was these were not only really nice gloves, but they were a gift from one of my sons 23 years ago. Yes, some things do last. But it was the thought that someone might have taken them without regard for the person who then had no gloves in the extreme cold. My only prayer was that someone needed them more than I. After all, I do own a second pair of nice gloves, but they are safely stored in my other coat.

The funny thing is that if someone needed gloves, I would gladly have bought them a pair and kept mine because of the sentimental value. Normally, this is something I usually do anyway since my church requests these donations. It was very disappointing not to have that option, but that is my choosing when to give, and maybe not God's will to help the needy.

As it turned out, I called Hy-Vee today and they do have my gloves. Someone was kind enough to take them to lost and found. I can't tell you how happy that makes me! While I didn't want to make an unintentional gift of them, a lesson was learned because I could only pray that if someone took them, they supplied a need rather than a want.

In any case, I can now retrieve them. But that can't be the end of the lesson. I'm going to purchase some more gloves to donate in addition to what I normally do. I'm fortunate to have two nice pairs to keep me warm, and I know there are others who have none.

Thanks for the lesson and reminder, God.