Something interesting has been happening in my life the past few months, and I think it’s time I shared it with you guys. In fact, I think it would be good if I shared it with as many people as possible. To be honest, it’s still a bit confusing, ’cause the phenomenon is kinda mind-blowing, but I’ll do what I can to summarize it in plain English.

The bottom line? When you give from the heart you will reap a reward. Every single time.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an extreme giver by heart. I don’t know how I came to be this way (aside from the grace of God), but as I grew up I quickly learned that I REALLY like to give stuff to other people. Whether it’s my time, my resources, my friendship, whatever – I just love sharing what God’s given me.

As I’ve been establishing Mills Creative Minds and preparing to be in a position to give in a BIG way (visit The Vision section at Mills Creative Minds for more info), I’m learning how to handle money wisely when it comes to generous giving. I’ve also studied giving in general, as well as the harvest principle of sowing and reaping.

I think one of the most overlooked (yet key) elements to effective giving is giving away things that we’re passionate about, in the specific AREAS that our passion is in. It’s almost as if our giving is “supercharged” when we make a point to give PASSIONATELY.

Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you. So here’s a few personal examples from the past few months. Read ‘em and make your own conclusion.

In late August Kim and I received an e-mail from some friends detailing a tragedy they were going through with their youngest son. Under 3 years old, and he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. 3 years old. Can you imagine the terror they must have felt as parents? Well, that’s what went through MY mind. So Kim and I looked at our bank account and talked about what we could give to them to help. They weren’t ASKING for money, but I figure the medical bills they were going to be facing would be significant. So after a few days of talking it over, we decided to send them $500.

Now, that’s a lot of money. But again, when it comes to medical bills? That might barely make a dent. So we sent that to them in August, and didn’t think anything more of it. Until November. Because that’s when we received an unexpected check (from a source completely unrelated to our friends) in an amount slightly greater than $5,000. You read that right. That’s a 5, with four zeros tacked onto the end. Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a considerable amount of money. Quite a bit more than the $500 seed I had apparently planted.

Now, I must admit that I didn’t see a link between the giving and receiving until a few days afterwards. And even when I DID think about it, I kind of brushed it off as a coincidence. The only thing that piqued my curiosity was the fact that I had read somewhere about how we can expect to be blessed tenfold what we give. But I think this is in reference to giving to God, and I certainly didn’t expect it would be so literal. Or so relatively quick. If this was the only anecdote I had to share, it wouldn’t hold much water.

Don’t worry, though. I have a handful of other interesting stories to share.

Kevin