March 29, 2019 | Impact
For the fifth year in a row, LifeGuide’s “Share the Blessing” campaign was a great success! We want to thank all those who partnered with us to bless our local community in this unique way. Over the next five weeks, we will be sharing the touching stories from this year’s campaign. We were inspired and amazed by this year’s stories, and we think you will be too!
As a reminder, during this past Christmas season, we sent $75 to a number of randomly selected clients to personally share with an individual or family in need of an unexpected blessing.
Please find below the first selection of stories.
It was hard to decide; we know at least two people that would benefit from this idea. After much thought, we decided to give the money to “Barbara.” She is a young girl that has many difficult situations to deal with, including her job. She works as a waitress at a local restaurant; she is married with two young children. At her job, she goes beyond her job requirements. The couple she works for is elderly and Barb helps by doing extra things (i.e., working overtime, putting up decorations, sometimes sharing her tip with her employer). She always has a smile and makes people laugh, especially those she knows that are feeling lonely or discouraged. She loves to help people and it shows with her caring ways and helpful attitude. She herself is a blessing to others without expecting anything in return. This was a blessing for us to help her have a more joyous Christmas. She started to cry when we gave her the envelope and was so appreciative of the thought behind it. It was great to give her something that made her day brighter as she tries to do this to everyone she waits on in the restaurant.
Through Share the Blessing, I was able to help “Betsy,” who was my mother’s caregiver at the assisted living home on the day my mother passed away. I learned later that her family had experienced some financial trials and although they are not permitted to receive gifts from those they cared for, my brothers found a way to work around that “rule” and managed to help the family. Since we lived out of state for the past several years that my mother lived at this facility, we couldn’t visit as often as my brothers who lived locally so I never got to know the staff there on a personal level. But the morning that my mother died, Betsy was there. By including me in your “Share the Blessing,” I have been able to open a whole new relationship with this Puerto Rican family with whom my mother had shared the Good News and who is now asking my wife and me to come visit and even do some Bible study with their family. The blessing keeps on giving on and on.
I shared the blessing with a former flute student of mine, who just went to study flute at one of the best universities for flute in the country, but she has had such a rough life leading up to this. Her home-life was and still is very unstable emotionally and financially, and at one point, she was working at Taco Bell to pay the finances for her mother’s apartment. They have always been very short on money and getting to college was “iffy” at best. Luckily, she took out some loans to attend college and had many scholarships. Still, I know that she still has no spending money and her parents still are not providing much at all for her. In high school, she worked so hard at the flute because that is all she had, and I always gave her very reduced lessons prices because she had so much promise. She rose to the top in the state two years in a row and was a winner and finalist of several big music competitions (National and local). She is so hardworking but has had such a hard life. I already heard back from her about her getting the money and she was so happy.
Thank you for including me in this year’s Share the Blessing campaign. I immediately knew who would receive the gift. A young woman I met recently is a hard-working college student who lost both of her parents. She now resides with her aunt and uncle. She never complains and takes every shift at work that she can to make ends meet. The gift of this money made a more plentiful Christmas possible for her and hopefully, it will free her of a few hours of work to spend with those she loves and who love and support her. Thank you for making her holidays measurably better.
I shared the blessing after praying, who would God want to bless. Her name is “Lizzie.” Lizzie lives in the city of Lancaster City. At one time her house was condemned, and she was living with a niece while her husband fixed up their house. Lizzie has so many health problems with very little money. She must ride the bus to doctor appointments. She uses a cane to keep her balance and her eyesight is so bad. She never complains, but it is getting that she can’t afford the bus. This money will bless her. When she opened the envelope, she was so grateful, and it was so real! It blessed my heart. I met her when she started coming to my church.
When our Share the Blessing envelope arrived, we decided to give the $75 gift to the daughter of friends who is leaving in January 2019 on an 11-month mission trip called the “World Race”. She appreciated this unexpected donation. Thank you for the opportunity to help this young lady.
Thank you for involving me in the “Share the Blessing” campaign. The person I had selected to issue the $75 was my church organist/pianist. She is going through a divorce from an abusive relationship. I had loaned her money last month to help her get re-established. I may or may not see that money again but after prayer and reflection it was worth the decision. She was nearly in tears when I had privately presented her your financial blessing prior to yesterday’s service. She just had some car repairs and this amount would help pay the bill. She had requested our pastor and a few of us who knew her situation would keep it low key. This young lady is a long-term dedicated servant to God who is focused more on the season than her personal life transition. I couldn’t think of someone more deserving of this gift.
Thank you for allowing me to be part of the Christmas giveaway. I choose to give it to a family at church. The husband recently had to leave employment because of major heart issues and is waiting to go on disability. His wife is a caretaker for the elderly. Together they raised her sister’s children and are now raising their three children who are pre-teen. When I gave it to him he said, “Wow! This came a tough time and I can really use it.” I appreciated the opportunity to bring some joy to a family who could use an extra lift.
Through Share the Blessing, we were able to help a young mother, “Nikkie”, with three small children. Nikkie is raising her family alone after her husband returned home from a deployment in the Middle East war zone. He was unable to adjust to life at home and left his wife and young family. Nikkie runs a daycare out of her home so she can be with her children. Nikkie has suffered the loss of her husband, and her children their father, to the effects of war. She remains faithful as a Christian. Nikkie helps many people quietly even though she struggles to make ends meet. While Nikkie was trying to help another mother who needed help, we found out she was unable to provide Christmas for her children. Her selflessness made her see the needs of others above her own. With the help of her friends, we are providing Christmas for her family and making sure she gets a new coat. The extra money will be used wisely as she is a great manager.
I was able to help a mother of three who recently moved to my town. She suffered a stroke and is unable to work, and her husband left her and the children. Due to her circumstances, money is tight. I knew she needed an unexpected blessing. It was special for me since I was able to reach out with Christ’s love, in deed as well as in word. As we hugged and shed tears together, God met with both of us.
Through Share the Blessing, we were able to help: a single mother with a young child (son) who suffered from physical abuse from her husband. She has two jobs and with help from our church, has barely managed to provide a safe place to live for herself and her son. The Blessing was helpful for her because she will be able to pay an outstanding medical bill. This special for us because I remember a time in our early life when a $75 gift would have greatly helped to relieve us of personal financial needs. We will continue, because of LifeGuide’s gift to this young woman, to help her through our church.
We were able to help “Clark”, a man who attends our church, and who seems to have a difficult time holding a full-time job and paying bills. He has a temp position (I think). He is a man of God and cares about others and prays for anyone and everyone. Clark is always going out of his way to see how others are doing and to make sure they know he is praying for them. We were very excited to bless him monetarily because there’s no one we could think of that needed it more & he’s such a humble and thankful man. What an awesome campaign! Thank you very much!
All included names have been changed to maintain anonymity.
“Share the Blessing” is not part of LifeGuide Financial Advisors’ advisory services but a campaign where participation and sharing of stories is voluntary. For information about LifeGuide’s advisory services, please refer to our ADV-Disclosure Brochure.