I never would have expected it. A woman set up a regular online contribution to Caring for Marriage. As in dollars. There are lots of people who say supportive things about our efforts to enrich relationships. The church I work for is of course fueled by donations. One couple with vision launched the marriage program into existence a dozen years ago. There are a few kind souls who remember us in late December. But I was genuinely surprised to find out that someone wanted to give regularly.

 

I have my own speckled history with generosity. With some chagrin I admit that I do not usually respond to appeals by phone. I replay worn out tapes in my head about poor me with so many mouths to feed, and twenty year old cars. Which is no longer true. And as the six grown kids have picked up their own grocery tabs have I increased my giving? Ah, no. Pledges for kids who run, or swim, or fast don't often open my wallet either. I suppose it counts that I have gifted quilts for a slew of charities. One raised over three thousand bucks. I have chipped in for crowd sourcing efforts, and felt good about it. And couples tend to like my wedding presents. 

 

But I am not yet the woman in one of my favorite books, The Quiltmaker's Gift. She gives anonymously to people who could not possibly thank her, much less reciprocate. Her actions have an effect on a particularly narcissistic king who in wanting one of her beauties, gradually learns how to be altruistic. He travels across his land, discovering the people he is supposed to serve. He begins to hear their needs, dance with their children, and cry for their sorrows. In the process he becomes more joyful than he ever was alone in the opulence of his palace. When the quiltmaker finally wraps him in a glory of color, he is as warm on the outside as he is on the inside.