January 18, 2025 | Impact
Over the last eleven holiday seasons, we’ve randomly selected and invited a small number of our clients to participate in our annual “Share the Blessing” campaign. We send these clients a small cash gift (usually about $50-75) and ask them to think about someone they feel could use an unexpected blessing. Then, we ask that they simply give that person the cash—no strings attached.
Every year, we see the incredible ways God works and often multiplies the impact of these unexpected blessings!
As Christians, we’re called to a life of extravagant generosity as a response to Christ’s generous love toward us. And this generosity is an active response—we’re called to live it out!
As 1 John 3:16–18 states, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
We are called to actively love those around us, and generosity is a powerful way of living it out!
So, with that, we’d like to share the stories we received from some of this year’s Share the Blessing participants! May these stories inspire and bless you as much as they have for us!
Note: While the names have been edited to protect the identities of those who participated, the stories are mostly unedited (except for instances of clarity or spelling) so you can experience them in each participant’s own words.
About thirty years ago when I met “bud” (he doesn’t capitalize his name, and “bud” isn’t it), he was seeing another counselor at the place where I worked. With my supervisory approval, we displayed one of bud’s works of art. It was as dark and chaotic and scary as the state of mind in which he produced it–but producing it was cathartic for him, ejecting and freeing himself from part of what tormented him internally. We wanted to support and celebrate that, so, with–yes, some trepidation–we mounted his crudely painted found-object piece on a wall other clients would see frequently.
Not surprisingly, one of those other clients asked us to take it down, as it was way too triggering for her. Of course we did. It wasn’t up for long. I’m sorry it affected her as it did, and we totally understood why. But what it meant to bud for us to put it on display, even for such a short time, was priceless. To him it conveyed recognition, validation, acceptance, and probably a bunch of other benefits that are still lasting him a lifetime. It did hurt his feelings, though, when we took it down, and that’s lasting a lifetime too, but he keeps it pretty far in the background.
Over the years bud and I have kept crossing paths occasionally, keeping up the mutual recognition and appreciation. Now older by far than he ever expected to be, he has made quite a social media presence of himself as an artist, and has been juried into shows at galleries around the U.S.–maybe even internationally.
bud lives pretty primitively. Beyond whatever he may be getting in social security, he manages to support himself with his art–but only barely, because he is himself such a generous patron of other people’s art, and occasionally just of people he knows who are in need.
I just bought my very first professional work of art last week, one of bud’s pieces that instantly had a story for me when I saw the photos he posted of it on Facebook. I did like the piece enough to actually buy it, but I also wanted to help bud raise the money he needs for a trip to FL, where he has work in a gallery where he’s exhibited before.
To bud, this Blessing of $50 will have tremendous impact–a tank of gas and a sandwich on the road at least! And it will be a generative Blessing–it won’t stop with bud, it’ll keep on giving. He might even give it away himself if he feels called to do so, and he’ll probably keep telling the story of how this Blessing came to him through me, from you, through wherever you got it from….That’s how the Good News spreads, right?
Thanks for your faithful stewardship of our “spiritual currency”–everything money CAN’T buy!
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I immediately put it in my purse to have to give to someone so I’m watching for the right opportunity. I love the creative ideas to bless others and especially at this time of the year. My husband would have loved the Just Because project. He kept things in his car to give to people when he saw a need or a way to witness.
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For there are no coincidences or irony in this world, it comes at a time when God put something on my heart to honor a single mother, in memorial of my daughter [“Sadie”] who passed away this year. She was also a single mother, as was I for many years of her life. I know the struggle—it’s real—and so did “Sadie”.
There is a young woman who works at a local restaurant over lunchtime. She is single and has two young girls. We are familiar and friendly because we love the restaurant. And recently I have seen her at our church occasionally and that was so nice to see.
About a month or so ago, while driving to work, I saw here coming out of a very small apartment with her girls, in a ‘not so very nice’ area of town. I keep seeing her, and it struck me (God struck me) that I should give her an anonymous gift of cash for the holidays to help out. I already have the card for her, and the cash set aside. And, then the LifeGuide letter arrived. I plan to include that extra $50 in my envelope for her. I was procrastinating a bit, not knowing when the best time was to drop by the restaurant and give to the owner and ask her to give to “Bonnie” without letting her know who it came from. Now I know it’s the right time. 😊
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I had in mind a young mother of four children in my church who is in the midst of a divorce to share the blessing with the next morning at church.
On my way to church, on a chilly Florida morning, an older bearded man, about my age was sitting on the foundation of a community sign, in the median off a red light intersection. We have many panhandling, holding “homeless” cardboard signs throughout our county. Passing, I gave him a small smile and continued to wait at the light for a minute or two. There is always question in my heart as to if, when and how to help them. Most I pass by. I wrestled for a few seconds after passing through the light about going back, asking the Lord if the “Blessing” in my bible was meant for him instead of the mom at church. Or both? I turned around to go back.
I pulled into a CVS parking lot across from him and asked him to come over. I explained that I had received the card the day before with instructions to “Share the Blessing.” I told him I had the intention to give it to someone else but he was the first person I saw in need so I returned to give it to him. He said, “Thank you”.
I told him that God sees him, knows him and loves him. I asked him to pray about how God would have him use the gift in the envelope. I said, “God, bless you, Sir.” “Thank you. “Merry Christmas”, was his reply. I saw him return to his perch and open the envelope as I backed out of my parking spot to resume my travels to church.
I was passing him again, we waved to each other and he blew me a kiss.
The mom at church will receive a just because blessing as well, just not in the envelope you sent. Your community outreach has been extended to Pasco County, Florida as well, “going into all the world.”
Thank you for your heart and your generosity and the opportunity to join you in your campaign of gratitude and God’s unending grace.
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Thank you for choosing us to do this. When we received it in the mail we both looked at each other and said I don’t know anyone. So Sunday we spoke to one of our pastors and he told us the following. There was a single mom of three all under the age of 10. She came from a marriage that was abusive and is living with her parents. She is working trying to get a place of her own.
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We were excited to be chosen to participate in Share the Blessing this year. We chose to bless a friend we have known for a number of years. She moved to the U.S. from another country and speaks very little English. She makes the most of what she has and is always pleasant and caring in her own special way. To be able to give her this gift was awesome and a blessing to us, too! She was overwhelmed and very thankful in her soft-spoken way. Thanks again for the opportunity to give and for the way LifeGuide has embraced the true meaning of Christmas.
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When we first received the card and instructions, several people came to mind right away that we have already been helping “just because.” However, it seemed right to wait and see… to keep the card handy as we were out and about in the busy days before Christmas and be attentive to someone “random” we might come across.
However, in the end, the person who received the card and $ blessing was one of the people who first came to mind for us – someone in the community with whom I have a growing friendship. She is someone who works a minimum wage job and struggles to make ends meet. When I learned of the sudden death of her mother in mid-December, we knew she was the one with whom we would share this “just because…” blessing.
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It was a blessing to me also to be able to give that money to someone in need.
I thought of this needy single woman in our church immediately. She had told me with tears in her eyes that her 92 year old mother had just died that week and she was going to her funeral that next week near Buffalo. She did not open the card at that time. The next time she saw me in church she gave me a big long hug and said how thankful she was!! Thanks for LifeGuide’s generosity in sharing this way.
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As a police officer with [“H. Township”], one of my duties includes helping with school crossing in [“W. Boro”]. Over the years I have come to know “T”, one of the crossing guards. I have had many conversations with “T” and have known her to be a good single mother, who like many, work more than one job to make ends meet. When I was given the Share the Blessing gift, I immediately thought of “T” who would be grateful for this unexpected gift, especially around the holidays. I hoped that this gesture would give her a smile and a sense of goodness to realize that she matters.
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 are voluntary. For information about LifeGuide’s advisory services, please refer to our ADV-Disclosure Brochure.