Totally forgot about this blog today, but here I am, squeaking it in.
Since there was no talk at the last event, I thought I would just write the next two blogs about two of the talks that stood out most to me from the Family Life Conference.
Week 1: Five Bucks
When I was a little girl, we would sometimes pick rocks for my Grandpa. Which, to you city folks, looks like this: my two older siblings and I hunting for rocks for an hour or two, making a pile so Grandpa could cart them out of the field. When Grandpa tells the story, there was a whole lot more negotiating and complaining than actual work going on - jury is out on that one.
Grandpa paid five bucks an hour or something like that. To a seven year old, this is a fortune. I remember getting that five dollar bill and being ecstatic. It went into a little purse I had and I carried it around for weeks. Only to eventually lose it.
In a way, I have always been that way. Extremely thrifty and frugal; I would much rather hold on to money than spend it. Getting married young, while we have always been blessed to have everything we need, means that I am always very conscious of the decisions we make with our money. Sometimes I worry if this makes me a bit of a miser.
The Saturday night of the Family Life Conference, Peter VanCampen gave a talk at the coffee house that was probably the most challenging talk I have ever heard. Because, as he started off by telling us, no one ever really talks about it. He talked about how privileged we are, and how strongly Catholics are called to charity. He talked about how he believes we are supposed to, as Mother Teresa famously said, "give until it hurts."
I left that tent feeling pretty wretched, to tell you the truth. Especially because, about three months ago, Tharin and I decided to get a sponsor child and we still had not followed up on this decision. To sponsor a child costs thirty-three dollars a month. You know what that really adds up to? For us it means eating out once less a month. It means one less Dollarama visit for me. Honestly, I can spend thirty dollars at the drop of a hat in the Dollarama, and what do I even come out of there with?
The Bible talks about the blessing of charity and generosity over, and over, and over.
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Proverbs 11: 24-25
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6: 18 -19
Now I am not saying that all of us necessarily need to run out right now and get a sponsor child. (You apparently can do it online, just in case you were wondering.) It really is not feasible for everyone.
However, we can all start with tithing.
Or, dropping off some fruit cups or cereal in the foodbank bins at the grocery store. (To read about what foodbanks like best, read here.) Putting extra change in the Children's Foundation cup at Tim Hortons.
Buying the coffee for the person behind you. (Yesterday I was at the grocery store and I was paying with cash. My total came to a little bit more than the bills I had, so I had to take some items off. The lady behind me graciously covered them, and it left me feeling so speechless. Such a small gesture, and it was huge for me.)
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus talks about the old lady who puts her two copper coins in the offering box. Although it was so much less than the people before her, Jesus remarks that her offering is the greatest of all because she gave even though she had so little.
So maybe we cannot give as much as others - but we are all called to charity, as much as we decide we are capable of.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
I think of myself as that little seven-year-old with the five dollar bill. I held onto it, placing so much importance on hoarding, and saving, and keeping it to myself: only to eventually lose it. On a larger scale, everything I have now is like that five dollar bill. What is it really worth to me when in the end, all that we have in this world is lost to us - just as that treasured bill once was.
God bless,
Olivia
