Generosity

As you might have picked up by now, my husband and I are definitely not rolling in it. We mostly struggle. Not badly: we always have food on the table. But so-called luxuries such as clothes, shoes, butter (as opposed to marg), honey, restaurant dinners, take-aways, fixing the car etc are just not on the cards. Appliances, furniture, or anything remotely related to these categories is something we don't even waste thoughts on.

Most of the time we are content with what we've got, and realise that there are so many out there that have less than we do. Obviously at times we wish we had money to do nice things, spoil each other, go on weekends away, or just go out to dinner more often, but we know that the day will come when we will be able to afford nicer things (hopefully sooner rather than later!).

A golden opportunity presented itself last week at our church bazaar: a raffle, with the prize being a wonderfully shiny new DVD player. We had made the mistake to buy a really cheap DVD player last year which broke after only a few weeks' use. Since then our nightly entertainment has been limited to SABC 3 and rerun movies on E (Godzilla for the hundredth time)*.

My husband bought 2 raffle tickets of R 5 each, and since only 40 raffles had been sold, we had a 1 in 20 chance of winning it. We were trying not to get our hopes up, but as soon as the announcement was made, we were a little crestfallen. One of our fellow Young Adults had won it with a single ticket.

So last night, having completely forgotten about what could have been, I innocently followed the DVD winner to her car after Young Adults. I was completely perplexed as to why we were making this trip. But as soon as she opened her boot, it suddenly dawned on me. She held the DVD player out to me (still neatly packed up in its box) and said: I want you guys to have this.

At first I said no**. But of course she had made up her mind already. After some teary thank yous and hugs, the DVD player was mine.

I drove home on cloud nine, and when I broke the news to my husband, he was overwhelmed and speechless. We had only met the generous DVD giver a few weeks ago, but despite not really knowing us at all, she saw our need and gave. Freely.

I can't not believe that God is behind this little scheme. God creates opportunities; people that listen to Him act on them. This experience has given me more than just a DVD player. It has given me a boost in my faith in people, in God, in beauty, in happiness, in life.

I bet, generous DVD giver, that you didn't know how much this has really meant to us.

Thank you.

*Needless to say, we have many an early night.
**Even though I wanted the thing so badly! But you know - manners and all that.