until we blister

how much do we give? this question is racing around in my thoughts this last week. do we give until it hurts? until we feel uncomfortable? until we feel a little queasy? until others see us give? until we give only 10% and not a penny more? until someone asks us to? until the bell ringers at wally world come out and play on our holiday spirit? how much?

this past weekend i saw what giving is. my sister was supposed to run the chicago marathon. she had trained for months. given up her evenings and saturdays to run like a freak a gazelle . she was running to raise funds and awareness to bring home our babies. about six weeks before the race. she fell. fell hard. and ended up tearing something in her knee that is too hard to explain. she went from running over ten miles a day to having a painful time walking. surgery was scheduled. and the marathon was out of the question. until i saw someone give. give till it hurts. her friend stepped up and said…i’ll do it. i’ll run. i’ll run 26.2 miles for you. i will sweat. cry. puke. run. and blister every inch of my feet. she gave. she gave till it was too painful to walk. she gave till it hurt.

so how much are we willing to give to help someone else? will we empty our savings account to help someone pay an enormous debt? will we give up our saturday nights to pass out food to the homeless? will we give up our golf game to put extra money in the offering? will we give up our starbucks to bring a friend a coffee instead? will we give up our perfect family to bring in a foster child?

how much are we willing to give? of our time? our money? our resources? our home? till it hurts? till we blister?

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