What did you do with your dollar?
This summer, during our parable series at TrueNorth Church, we explored the Parable of the Talents. Steve challenged everyone at church by giving them a dollar bill, with the direction to use the money to further the kingdom of God. This would result in hundreds of witnessing and mission opportunities by getting everyone involved.
This challenge really got people buzzing. You couldn’t run into someone from TrueNorth without being asked, “What did you do with your dollar?” I heard one guy say that he is more worried about what he is going to do with his one dollar than what he will do with his next paycheck.
I have to admit that I had big plans for my dollar. While searching for resources, I couldn't find a book about turning your dollar into a thousand in thirty days. I wanted to be like the guy who started trading with one red paper clip and ended up with a house. I didn’t get anywhere with that idea. Then I enlisted my Journey Team to combine dollars, but then we had ten different ideas about what to do with the money. That didn’t work either. So I just prayed that God would show me what HE wanted me to do with my dollar.
And He did.
I had to go to a lab for some blood work last week and while I was waiting on the clerk to complete my paperwork, I noticed an advertisement on the wall for the Light the Night Walk, a fundraiser for leukemia and lymphoma. They were asking for $1 donations. One dollar. That $1 just leaped off the page at me, but I didn’t do anything.
Once I was taken to the blood-sucking room, I was trying to take my focus off the big needle that was coming my way. So I made a dumb comment to the girl about what a nice big window she had in her room. Well, that opened the door for her to tell me about the homemade lamps that were sitting on her windowsill. And wouldn’t you know she made those lamps to raise money for the Light the Night Walk. She told me about a relative who had lymphoma and was cured and I told her about my friend, Jenny Lou, who had a bone marrow transplant and has been cancer-free for over ten years. My heart was racing and I knew what God wanted me to do. So I gave her my dollar and Alan’s dollar as a donation.
The creative team at TNC decided to spend some time in September sharing the dollar stories. If you would like to share your story, send an email to payitforward@truenorthchurch.com. And if you are one of the hundreds who are participating in the dollar challenge, do not feel like your story has to be the best in town. Don’t feel like what you do with your dollar will not make a difference. Just go ahead and give it away...you will be blessed.
This summer, during our parable series at TrueNorth Church, we explored the Parable of the Talents. Steve challenged everyone at church by giving them a dollar bill, with the direction to use the money to further the kingdom of God. This would result in hundreds of witnessing and mission opportunities by getting everyone involved.
This challenge really got people buzzing. You couldn’t run into someone from TrueNorth without being asked, “What did you do with your dollar?” I heard one guy say that he is more worried about what he is going to do with his one dollar than what he will do with his next paycheck.
I have to admit that I had big plans for my dollar. While searching for resources, I couldn't find a book about turning your dollar into a thousand in thirty days. I wanted to be like the guy who started trading with one red paper clip and ended up with a house. I didn’t get anywhere with that idea. Then I enlisted my Journey Team to combine dollars, but then we had ten different ideas about what to do with the money. That didn’t work either. So I just prayed that God would show me what HE wanted me to do with my dollar.
And He did.
I had to go to a lab for some blood work last week and while I was waiting on the clerk to complete my paperwork, I noticed an advertisement on the wall for the Light the Night Walk, a fundraiser for leukemia and lymphoma. They were asking for $1 donations. One dollar. That $1 just leaped off the page at me, but I didn’t do anything.
Once I was taken to the blood-sucking room, I was trying to take my focus off the big needle that was coming my way. So I made a dumb comment to the girl about what a nice big window she had in her room. Well, that opened the door for her to tell me about the homemade lamps that were sitting on her windowsill. And wouldn’t you know she made those lamps to raise money for the Light the Night Walk. She told me about a relative who had lymphoma and was cured and I told her about my friend, Jenny Lou, who had a bone marrow transplant and has been cancer-free for over ten years. My heart was racing and I knew what God wanted me to do. So I gave her my dollar and Alan’s dollar as a donation.
The creative team at TNC decided to spend some time in September sharing the dollar stories. If you would like to share your story, send an email to payitforward@truenorthchurch.com. And if you are one of the hundreds who are participating in the dollar challenge, do not feel like your story has to be the best in town. Don’t feel like what you do with your dollar will not make a difference. Just go ahead and give it away...you will be blessed.
1 comment:
wish i'd thought to give it to the leukemia society. i don't think too much about all that went on then, except ever so often, i'll see something on tv and i'll start crying. it must always be in my subconscious.
your dollar might be the one that finds a new way to combat the disease.
jlou
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