Being a product of a Christian home in the ’90s, I grew up loving Ray Boltz.
I also had (and still have) the problem of confusing two things that aren’t too much alike. So while I loved Ray Boltz, I often confused him with Acappella, who I didn’t like as much.
When I was about six years old, my parents & sisters went to Ray Boltz concert. I was asked if I wanted to go along, which I turned down, thinking of Acappella. I instead opted to spend the night at my friend Shannon’s house.
I still remember being in Shannon’s kitchen when my parents came to pick me up and told me that it was a good concert. I remember them telling me he had played Thank You–my favorite song. I remember crying that I had missed it & my mom telling me she had given me the opportunity to go. I had made the choice, and I remember regretting that for so many years.
I might still today, particularly by the end of this post.
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Fast forward twenty-five years: in early March, I found myself at the Kingdom Mission Fund Award Dinner, where they sang Thank You as we closed the evening.
Do you know the lyrics?
I dreamed I went to heaven and you were there with me;
We walked upon the streets of gold, beside the crystal sea.
We heard the angels singing, then someone called your name.
We turned and saw a young man running and he was smiling as he came.
And he said, “Friend, you may not know me now.” And then he said, “But wait–
You used to teach my Sunday school when I was only eight.
And every week you would say a prayer before the class would start.
And one day when you said that prayer, I asked Jesus in my heart.”
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.
Then another man stood before you and said, “Remember the time–
A missionary came to your church and his pictures made you cry.
You didn’t have much money, but you gave it anyway.
Jesus took that gift you gave and that’s why I’m here today.”
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.
One by one they came, far as the eye could see.
Each life somehow touched by your generosity.
Little things that you had done, sacrifices made–
Unnoticed on the earth; in heaven, now proclaimed.
And I know up in heaven you’re not supposed to cry
But I am almost sure there were tears in your eyes
As Jesus took your hand and you stood before the Lord.
He said, “My child, look around you, great is your reward.”
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.
As they sang, we were standing in front of a group of people that have moved over $600,000 through the Kingdom Missions Fund, which has invested this money and used the returns to fund $235,000 into missions.
Some of that $235,000 has gone into our town and into our community for small missions projects and start ups. So I as looked around the room, I thought of what each little gift has meant to our community alone.
I thought of my parents, who sat across the room. They raised support for us to move to Little Rock in 1996; they have been financially supported to work at FamilyLife, to mentor individuals and couples, to fix cars, to host families, and so much more–for 21 years to date.
And because of those gifts, I had the childhood I had; I went to the university I went to. I met the husband I did, and we moved around the world into a small neighborhood in Mae Sot.
For over six years now we have been fully funded to live overseas in our little community. We have been fully funded to buy Band-Aids and start small businesses and help families get rice. We have been fully funded to sit down on the floor and read with little girls like Yaminoo and Musana. We’ve gotten to watch Lay Tah Oo grow from an 18-month-old toddler to a seven-year-old, right under our noses and often in our arms.
And how did we get to this little community in Mae Sot? Because in 2006 we both went on fully-supported missions trips. And in 2008, we spent the summer with Karen refugees that had just moved to America. We sent out letters and received donations for the summer that allowed us to spend every day under a big shady tree and teach ESL, paint, play games; help with medical needs; trying to fill in the gaps. (Really, we did what we do now: just smaller, and under a tree in Tennessee.)
During this trip, we returned to Tennessee, nine years later. We saw our friends, now with houses and cars and passports and degrees and careers. We saw them as Americans rather than refugees. They took up a gift for us–together, our friends donated over $1500 toward our community fund. They chose to give to their own people in our little neighborhood in Mae Sot.
So as they sang this song, I just couldn’t help but be tangled in the web.
It is a masterful web of generosity.
And from my perspective alone, it is incredible to think of how our generosity can reach the masses. How one persons gift can stretch miles and miles. How interconnected we are in our purposes.
The words of this song is so much of what I want to say to so many. It is beyond kitschy, but it is so true. I so ridiculously resonate with this chorus that I am still sad that I missed that concert!
I am surrounded and supported by this web. I am a product of generosity, and I’m thankful. And I hope that my neighbors are, too.