Grace When We Give - The Year of Giving

By Liz A. Darnell

Can we transform the world by giving generously and freely to others? Will our surrounding environment change and bring more of God's miraculous beauty? Can one person really affect the earth by offering charity to people on their own daily walk?

The Year of Giving is a compelling story that documents a year of selfless giving. It describes what happens when we make the conscious effort of waking up every morning with a caring and generous heart. Taking the quest of unselfish and thoughtful giving, Liz dives into the journey and releases her spirit and mind along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liz A. Darnell
• Release date: Oct 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393520863

Book preview

Grace When We Give

The Year of Giving

Liz A. Darnell

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Ecclesiastes 3:1 - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Copyright © 2018 Liz A. Darnell

Second Edition

ISBN: 978-0-578-52705-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Published by Liz A. Darnell, Edgewater, Florida, U.S.A.

Some people and incidents in this book may be composites created by the author. Names and details may have been changed and any similarity with names or stories of individuals described in this book known to readers is purely coincidental.

Printed on acid-free paper.

BookLocker.com, Inc. Publisher First Edition - 2018

ISBN: 978-1-63492-245-6

To reach the author:

www.lizdarnell.com

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Dedication

This book is dedicated to one. It's my Father above. He's my life, my love, the quencher and giver to all of my spiritual hunger and thirst. He gives me the deepest rivers and the greatest mountains on high. He brings them all to me, straight to my own heart and mind.  He brings me a joy that no other can compete with.

I honor Him; I treasure Him. I thank Him for loving me. I can think of nothing greater in value than the feelings of having Him in my life. It's a beautiful love affair that all stirs from within. He resides deep within me, way deep in my heart.

I thank God for restoring me and cleaning me inside. I thank Him for washing me so gently and graciously. I thank Him for rewarding me with the sacrifice of His life that He gave upon the earth.

He is my moon, my stars and my absolute everything.

Colossians 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

As the scripture advices, this I so Do!

2 Corinthians 4:15 - For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Season to Give

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

The Crowning

A Healing Prayer for You

About the Author

Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Introduction

Matthew 6:1 - Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

When I had the thought of starting this project, I kept telling myself that maybe I shouldn't do it.  The thought would keep coming back that I should take a year to write about giving.  I had such a desire to focus one year of my life on giving to other people and seeing what would happen in the end.

Every time I had the urge to start the project I would question whether it would be a good thing for me and for God to write about.

I've been taught and heard so many times that I shouldn't give for public recognition.  If I did this, it would be the only reward I would be given from my Father above. I wouldn't be hiding what I gave with my right hand from my left if I tell other people about it.

I prayed and prayed for God to lead me to a different road if it was wrong. I didn't want my motives to be incorrect or to give accolades to my own self. The desire was so deep and joyous in my heart that I knew I had to try. I knew I could stop later if it felt wrong at anytime. I knew I could hold the project in my own hand if that was all it was meant to bring.

I might not get more rewards from God for writing this book when I go to be with Him.  It dawned on me one evening that you're my reward. Your beautiful time is my reward. It might be the only reward that I can gain. Through prayer and reflection I've come to the realization that I'm going to be ok with that gift.

I felt I had nothing to lose. I never want to disappoint God by not doing what He's placing on my heart. I also don't want to disappoint Him by clanging bells and chimes at my every action. I'm learning everyday that there has to be a balance. We can get carried away and make things about our own selves if we lose sight of God. He's my center and I need Him desperately to guide me in life.

He has become my beautiful light house. He's so gently guiding me along His Still waters. He directs me down my glorious path every single day.

A Season to Give

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

After walking alone with God for a few years, a time came for me where I was starting to feel a spiritual fullness inside.  Like when attending a buffet, inside my stomach I felt filled inside; it was almost difficult to gain much more joy. I felt like my cup was already overflowing with Gods peace and love. It was now time for me to Give.  The time had come for me to give what I had received.

I began to notice that when I continued to store what was inside, it was starting to bring me down.  Like a special item we put in the fridge. We store it for a later date and it moves further and further to the back. Before long, the item has soured and is not safe for us to keep or even eat. We've become greedy trying to save it for later.

Things become about us too much and we can almost get over confident or self centered.  We can't get anything from our environments or our friends any longer when we aren't giving back in some way. The teachers and people speaking to us eventually go unheard and we feel like we can't grow anymore and wonder if it could be someone else's fault.

An empty feeling takes over and nothing we do seems to take the unknown longing from our heart.  It feels so wonderful inside when we first start getting filled with God's love and receiving His help. In those moments, every message a person speaks seems to be meant for our ears alone.

When we get filled with God, a longing and desire starts to come over us and we want to give and show others everything that God is capable of doing. There's a desire to give this feeling away and show it to other people.  If we hold on to it, it's like our inner tree starts to lose its beauty and leafs and then begins to fade away like with the seasons of the world. We can give the fresh leaves or we can hold them and keep them for ourselves but eventually they will die off and go unseen.

Look at this beautiful verse God let me see after I wrote about the leaf...

Psalms 1:3 - And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Just like a real tree that's planted in the ground.  When the seasons change a tree will sometimes lose some leafs and the flowers begin to fade. It's like coming to the end of a wonderfully abundant season. We get to a place where something needs to be given back to someone besides our own selves. I'm giving you some of my rich abundant leafs today. The definition of a leaf is very interesting to imagine. It's a beautiful part of the whole.

I looked the word leaf up in the dictionary and it describes it as one of the expanded, usually green organs borne by the stem of a plant.

A few weeks before God placed this project on my heart, I was driving home from a day at the ocean with my little family.  We always stop at a special ice cream store that's right before the bridge we have to cross.

Leaving the ocean, we arrived at the ice cream place and I sat in the car watching my husband and son as they waited in line to order.

I noticed a man walking past them and he got in line right behind them.  He was dirty and carrying a backpack. I continued to watch them as they all stood together. Drifting with my thoughts, soon my husband was knocking on my window and handing me my cone. When they got back in the car, I said. I think we should have bought that man behind you an ice cream cone.

I looked back over and the dirty man was gone.  It was as if he vanished when I got distracted by my own ice cream. As we started driving, I saw him again. He was slowly walking up the concrete bridge. He was crossing on foot and it was very hot that day.

I said out loud, There's that man!  We should have bought him a cone. My husband wanted to keep driving and seemed to hope that he might be able to ignore me. I wouldn't go unheard though and told him, We can't keep driving. I have to buy him an ice cream cone.

It was going to be really hard to pull the car over and talk to the man now.  We were already on the bridge and there was no way to stop or pull over. Once we finished crossing the bridge, I saw a little road that allows people to turn off and park by the river.

I got out of the car and started walking back up the bridge to meet the man.  My family stayed in the car. He was now walking towards me. When I reached him, I turned around and began to walk beside him as we headed back the same way I just came. I stayed by his side as we walked. He wouldn't look at me. He wouldn't stop walking and he wouldn't face me. We both kept slowly walking back towards my car.

Now that I was closer, I could see he had blisters on his face from the sun and heat.  I could tell he had been in the sun and walking for days. I put my hand on his arm. I really want you to take a break. Would you take some money and take a break at the next place you see for me? I saw you at the ice cream store and God really moved me to buy you an ice cream cone. I said.

We kept walking and I tried to slow him with my hand. He wouldn't look at me. He wouldn't slow down. I said, Please stop for a minute and talk to me. I feel like I want to give you a hug. I could see tears were starting to come to his eyes. Now tears were coming to mine. He was hardened from hiding his emotions and I could sense it as we walked together.

I asked him how old he was and where his family was. He said he was eighteen and his family lived about thirty miles away from where we were. He didn't get along with his parents and was staying away from them. We talked a little longer and he still wouldn't look at me as he spoke. He seemed ashamed of himself.

Before I left his side, I asked him one more time if he was going to take a break at the next restaurant and get something to eat.  He said he would and I hugged him again. I feel like you're my very own son I said to him. I hugged him goodbye and tears were falling from both of our eyes. He continued to slowly walk away from me and I walked back to the car.

When I got in the car I was so taken by emotions that I literally wept out loud.  I turned to my husband and told him, I felt like he was my son.  We drove home and there were so many mornings that I woke up thinking about the young man.

I had just completed Grace in the Water not long before I met the guy on the bridge and was taking a few months off from writing.  We were recovering from a hard move from one home to another.

I had lived in the same house for over ten years and it recently sold.  I had never lived in the same home for ten years before the one we just left. I learned a lot in that home but it was time for me to go. The passions and joys in my life could no longer be found there and my heart longed to be closer to the water and ocean.

About a month after we moved and settled in the new place, I had a dream. I was in a huge room filled with brides. Everywhere I looked, I could see a bride. In my dream some of the brides had long and glorious veils. Some veils were very long and some were short. I remember looking around the room and observing all the brides around me.

Soon, I was standing in front of a bride that had a few people gathered around her. They wanted her veil to fall a certain way on the floor. They threw her veil lightly in the air so it could fall to the ground and lay flat with fewer wrinkles.

I watched as the veil slowly fell to the floor and glamorously seemed to waterfall down her back. It felt like in my dream I