My husband and I are very involved with our church. One of my favorite things I’m involved in is the Stewardship Committee. When I first joined the committee, I admit I didn’t know much about Stewardship. Part of the reason I decided to join was the committee had just lost it’s co-chair and that left the Chairperson as the only committee member. You can’t have a committee with one member, so I volunteered. Today, I’m so glad I did and I’m pretty sure it was part of God’s plan! I’m not sure I’d be writing this blog without it.
If you are not sure what stewardship means in the Christian sense, simply put, God is the creator of everything and all we have is His. As His followers we are called to be good stewards (or managers) of all we have. 2 Corinthians 9:8 states “God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause”. So, not only has He given us everything, He has given us more than enough. When my husband and I lived in Paris with our young son Kevin, Kevin and I would fill our afternoons discovering the parks of Paris. We would pack up the diaper bag with everything we needed for a full day out and head by foot, bus or metro to the “parc du jour”. One day we were at the Champs de Mars which is a beautiful park at the base of the Eiffel Tower. We were sitting on a bench getting ready to eat lunch. Across the path was a homeless man picking through the garbage can looking for something to eat. I packed up my untouched lunch and gave it to him. He took it from me without a word but his eyes said thank you. He sat on the bench across from us and ate. I could tell he was a bit unsure of the tuna sandwich on white American bread and disappointed in the accompanying apple, but he ate them none the less. I admit I was hungry and knew it would be a few hours before we were back home and I could get something else to eat. But that’s the thing. I knew I had plenty of food waiting for me at home. This man did not know when he would eat again. How can we not share what we have been given knowing God will give us more?
Besides food, something else God has given to us to share is our stories. Each and every one of us has a story to tell that can inspire, comfort or help someone else. How often have you shared something that you were sure you were the only one in the entire world who had experienced just to be told “Oh the same thing happened to me!” Someone out there has experienced what you have and needs to hear how you dealt with it. Sharing stories can be hard for sure. Some stories take more courage to share than others. Being part of the Stewardship helped give me courage. First of all, there were skits! Apparently, skits put on by the Stewardship Committee is a thing. I thinks it’s to add some humor into the not always comfortable topic of asking people to share their money with the church. And when there are only two people on the committee we already know who the actors are. I must say these skits have been a bit out of our comfort zones but we’ve had many laughs over them and we improve every year! For this year’s skit my friend and my stewardship partner Glo used her talents to write the script herself! She has also encouraged me to use my talents (actually, it’s more like help me practice or try it out to see if it’s even a talent). Last year instead of hiring a retreat speaker for a day retreat we were hosting, she was very encouraging and allowed me to be the speaker! It was a great first step to getting my story out there. Being able to get up in front of 40 women and share has motivated me to find other ways to speak, hence the blog.
When we use what God has given us for good, whether it’s our time, talents or treasures, God is pleased. And when He is pleased He will continue to bless us abundantly. If you have a stewardship story to share, or want to learn more about what stewardship is please reach out!
Love, Melissa
I’m having surgery on Thursday. It’s a pretty common, but major surgery. I’m not nervous about it (well, maybe a tad bit nervous). I know I will have many people praying for me and God himself will be there! This week I am going to keep in my mind, and close to my heart, Exodus 33:14 “The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest'”.
Melissa Pillone Speaks 