True story: every now and then, I get in this crazy mood. I have the desire to buy things for people, make things for people, leave people love notes, go on and on for days on end about how much I appreciate people... you know, I turn into "Crazy Mushy Danielle". The past few days is one of those times.
So, today I got to thinking. What incites these "generosity sprees" in my life? What compels me to constantly want to buy people small gifts (as small as a coffee, a piece of chocolate, or a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera - it's my roomie's favorite), tell people how much I love and appreciate them, or leave encouraging notes on people's doors? Well, I don't necessarily think that the cause of it is always the same exact thing, but I have reached a conclusion as to how my most recent/current state of mushiness has come to be... in this case, it is pretty obvious to me how I got here.
Infectious generosity.
What on earth is infectious generosity? (It just popped into my head, so I ran with it.) I suppose the idea of infectious generosity is kind of the same idea as an infectious smile. You know that feeling - when someone smiles at you and it fills you with so much joy that you can't help smiling at someone else because of the happiness you received from the first smile? Infectious giving kinda feels like that, just on a grander scale.
Let's have an example, shall we? This week, I have felt encouraged, valued, appreciated, served, and truly considered by so many of my friends here at Liberty. It has come in the form of friends being hospitable during a visit to their homes (That's right... men of God serving other people in their own homes, and I was lucky enough to experience it twice in one week... but that's a blog for a different day.), encouraging words, small gifts, notes, posts to my Facebook wall or comments in my email - and that's not even the end of it! The list seems never ending this week. Out of the overflow of being poured into so much by others this week, I have wanted to make other people feel that way, too. Just like when people keep smiling at you and you feel compelled to smile back - people have been so generous to me, and I can't help but want to be generous to others in return. So now, this is my week - full of love notes, encouraging words, and little gifts. Out of the generosity of others toward me, all I want is to be generous to others. Infectious generosity has grabbed a hold of me this week in a big way, and it's not letting me go.
Could I sit here and make this into a lesson about generosity? Of course I could, but I'm not going to (okay, I might... you never know). Sometimes, when you have a good experience with something, you just want to tell someone. That's kind of what this is. This is me sharing the goodness of God in my life manifested in the relationships I have with people on this campus. This week has really been a reminder to me of how good God has been to me in the friendships he has allowed me to form with some of the most amazing people I could ever hope to have the privilege of calling "friend". They are generous to me with their resources, words, and time, and I feel encouraged to be generous out of the overflow of their generosity toward me.
Okay, I said I might make this thing into a lesson. It's really more of a parting thought. Someone has to be the first person to smile for it to be infectious. If one person doesn't smile first, the chain can't start. In the same way, someone has to be the first to be generous for generosity to be infectious. Be generous and see how much YOU will feel blessed by it just as much as the person you have shared with.
Smile first. Be generous first. Be blessed. <3
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