Tell Us Your Story!
We want to hear how God used you through the Revolution Give Back in this community. Simply write a comment to this post and tell us your story. Make sure you post your story as soon as you have blessed someone!
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We want to hear how God used you through the Revolution Give Back in this community. Simply write a comment to this post and tell us your story. Make sure you post your story as soon as you have blessed someone!
February 28, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Today after church, 2/28/10, I went to the Bloom grocery store. I had my “Revolution Give Back Money” and walked around waiting for God to lead me to someone to give it to. After a few minutes, I watched an elderly gentleman go by with his cart. I had an overwhelming feeling that he was the one to give the money. I nervously approached him (never had done anything like this before), introduced myself and that I attended Sonlight Church, and briefly told him that our church was on a mission to randomly bless people in our community. I told him he could use the money for whatever he wanted. I also invited him to our church if he was interested. He smiled, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you”.
March 2, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Bill, thanks for your testimony. Our God is so awesome as you have portrayed. Thanks for being His obedient servant. Jake
I am William (Jake) Heuisler and I have just experienced again, how our Heavenly Father blesses those that are in need and we as His children must obey Him in his decisions. When I got home Sunday after service I opened my envelope and to my surprise I received $200.00 to bless someone. Since I have been at Sonlight and have found Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I have been blessed from conquering my addiction with alcohol to serving as He commands us to do for his glory. The Lord knows my current situation with unemployment and He tests me daily to be obedient. I showed the $200.00 to my wife, Margaret and she admitted, “God gave us that much money to glorify His name and not for our needs.”
During my quiet time I asked the Lord “How could I bless someone with this amount of money?” The only thing I knew was to carry the money and invitation cards in my wallet. Yesterday, Monday, March 1, 2010 I went to my car for some unknown reason and I noticed my inspection sticker expired 3/10. (Yeah, this month) When my wife, Margaret got home from work that evening I told her “it was a bad day”, I messed up the computer, somehow during my job searches. I deleted my internet access when an antivirus message popped up and my car is due for inspection. My son, Carl and wife, Margaret tried to fix the computer. They were able to temporarily give me internet access for the time being. My thoughts were could this be the reason for this money? Again, they were my thoughts not the Lords.
This morning, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 I kissed my wife when she departed for work, .then I noticed the weather again with a chance of rain/snow starting tonight. I opened my bible and immediately the Lord spoke to me with this verse. MATTHEW 6:32-34 “Your Heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Any challenges in my life I had to continue to trust and give them to God. This in mind I thought it was a good day to get my car inspected. I went to Kramer Tire near Target in Chesapeake and it wasn’t crowded. In fact, when I went in the only other person was the attendant at the counter. While I was at the counter checking in, I heard a car with a rattling sound pulled up and a woman who I thought was a little depressed stood behind me at the counter. I thought to myself “This is great; I am going to be in and out” and in no time my car was driven to the garage to be serviced. I went over and sat down in the customer service area and picked up the newspaper sitting on the table. Only the three of us in Kramer Tires at this time, sound definitely echoes. The woman, who was checking in at the counter, was getting emotional because she wasn’t sure how much damage she was facing, but most of all the cost to repair the rattling sounds with the damaged tire. She came over and sat across from me. We both said hi to each other, and I asked her if she wanted any part of the newspaper. She replied “no, I work at the Water Treatment place and had to leave work to get her car looked at and fixed.” She was hoping the damage wouldn’t cost her a lot of money. The only thing I could think of at that moment was the verse I read earlier from Matthew on how God wants us to see others as a precious gift from Him and treat them right today and not wait until tomorrow. I didn’t know how much damage this woman had to her car, but I knew at this moment she needed help and God made sure I was there to provide her with this gift. I got up from my seat, went over to the coffee pot, poured me some coffee secretly pulled out my wallet to see what I had inside of it. I had the $200.00 and the invitation cards. I handed her the money and a couple of the cards and told her “God loves her very much and He wanted her to have this.” The next thing I knew she let out a scream and began crying and then hugged me and thanked me. The only words came to me were, “thank you and the Lord had this planned, glorify Him.”The last time I truly felt this effect on how God wants us to love everyone was when I was in Chad, Africa and gave those students something as simple as a pen and a calculator and their reaction of gratitude. It’s amazing how our God works in our daily life. His thoughts and actions are so much greater than ours. Before I knew it, my car was inspected. I paid, using my visa check card. I told the woman, “I was so glad I got to meet her and she is welcome to come to Sonlight Church anytime.”
I left Kramer Tire knowing God deserved all the glory and honor for the blessing He gave this woman in need. I wasn’t even out of the parking lot and I called my wife, Margaret to let her know how God used me today to glorify Him. Then, I called my Brother in Christ, Bobby Birch. What a day, and this all happened before 9:30 a.m. The Lord speaks to us all.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.” PHILIPPIANS 2:3.
March 3, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Hey Jake,
Awesome story!! When Jason shared this with me this morning I was so touched! You and your family are so sweet and precious to us! I know that God is going to bless you beyond your wildest dreams!! Remember, Faith is not wondering if God can, It is knowing that HE WILL!!! We love ya!
March 3, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Wow, Jake…what a powerful testimony. Thank you for your obedience and letting God work and shine through you.
March 3, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Bill,
Thank you for sharing your experience! I am sure that gentleman didn’t ever expect that!
March 2, 2010 at 1:28 pm
On Sunday after church Lori and I went to Walmart to get groceries. On the way home we saw a woman all by herself on Cedar Road in one of those Liberty Tax Statue of Liberty costumes. She looked so cold. She waved and smiled as we past by. As we past I felt as if God was telling me “there’s your person”. So many times in the past I have heard this small voice and waiting to late to act. Not this time, I made a U turn, went back and gave her the $10 and a invite card from my envelope and invited her to come to Sunlight. She was very thankful and I hope to see her next week.
March 3, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Jimmy,
Thank you for sharing your story! What an awesome person to bless.
March 3, 2010 at 7:22 pm
In front of the church’s land are two homes on Centerville Turnpike. These are the church’s neighbors. God has placed them on my hearts for a while now and I took the money that was in my envelope, doubled it and purchased 2 Wawa gift cards. I placed an invite card along with a church business card with a note inviting each of them to church and/or contact me if there was anything the church could do for them.
March 4, 2010 at 2:02 am
Jason and I are so excited about this opportunity and finally felt led as to what to do with the money. We have a friend that is a single mother and she has had lots of things going on lately. Well, Jason and I each had $10.00 in our envelopes, so, we took the combined $20.00 and added to it. We purchased a $100.00 gift card from Wal Mart so that she could use it on whatever she needed, be it clothes, food or household items. What an awesome feeling!!!
March 5, 2010 at 3:14 pm
My husband, Buckie, and I have been blessed by the love of our God and the wonderful friends we have at Sonlight. This past sunday our friend Melissa and her youngest son Javin came to church with us. I’ve been praying for God to use someone, anyone, to reach out to her and lift her up out of her pain and loss. She walked away sunday with our music and joy for Jesus resounding in her mind. I received a “million dollar” blessing that day!
As for our envelopes, Buckie had $20.00 in his. Every morning when he goes into the Texaco station near our house to get his coffee, he see’s an older woman putting $15.00 worth of gas in her Caravan. Everyday. He knew immediately this was who he wanted to bless. Monday morning he went in and waited for her to drive up and when she came in, he approached her with the envelope and 2 invitation cards, introduced himself, and explained what our church had done the day before. After she got over the initial shock, she smiled and thanked him profusely while he pumped the gas for her. The attendant in Texaco was so impressed, she asked Buckie if he had a coffee card, which he did, and she gave it two punches and didn’t let him pay for his coffee that morning!
My envelope had $10.00 in it and I prayed over it like it was ten times more. I believe God led me to the young lady at Hardee’s where I stop to get my plain biscuit and coke most mornings on the way to work. She hears my K-Love playing, and my “have a blessed day” as I drive off, but nothing made her eyes fly open like telling her about Sonlight giving away what should have been the offering, and blessing her with the $10.00. She gratefully placed the bill and the invitation cards in her pocket and I saw her turn to her coworkers as I drove off. Do you think she was sharing the story of God working through His Church?!
March 5, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Today I went to the grocery store, and prayed for the Lord to lead me to the right person. As I was shopping I looked at everyone who crossed my path. With each person I saw, I asked the Lord “is this the one?”. I wasn’t sure if I would find the right person, or feel led to approach anyone in particular. I was near the end of my list, and almost done shopping when I saw a young mom with a young boy. She appeared to be very nice, and didn’t really seem as if she had a monetary need, but I knew that she was the one. As I approached her I heard her say something to her son, and she called him by name. I stood next to her, and smiled at her, and said “is he a Jacob? I have a Jacob right here.” We laughed together and spoke about how we both love the name so much that we didn’t mind it was very popular. I started to introduce myself, and began with “I go to Sonlight church….” and that was as far as I got. She mentioned that she has attended Sonlight church in the past, and that her three boys really loved it. She also said that they should come back sometime. At that point, I handed her 2 invite cards with the $10. I told her that instead of taking up the offering last week, Sonlight decided to give it out, and asked us to go out and bless the community with the money. She was excited and asked me if I would mind if she passed it along. Of course I told her to pass it along if she wanted to bless someone else. I told her that we’d really love for her to come back to Sonlight. She asked if we still met at the middle school, and I told her yes. Before I walked away, I wanted to finish introducing myself. So I said, “and by the way, my name is Christina”. She laughed and said “that’s my name too”. We exchanged a hug and we went on our way.
I’m so thankful for Sonlight Church and for giving us this challenge to bless others. I’m praying that every person who has received a blessing chooses to come to Sonlight church and that the Lord gives them a desire to pursue a relationship with Him, and with us. I’m also praying that every person who has given a blessing experiences the heartfelt joy that comes with blessing others.
March 5, 2010 at 7:46 pm
After church last week my family joined another family for lunch at a local pizza place where we often enjoy going after church. We requested the same waitress that usually serves us because she is so patient with our crowd….we usually have a lot of youth join us and it can get rowdy. It was busy that day and I could see that she was working extra hard to make sure we were all taken care of. I really felt that she could probably use a lift and really felt God encouraging me to bless her. So I pulled out my money from my envelope, doubled it and left it for her on the table along with the invite card. I prayed as I left that she would feel God touch her in a special way that afternoon.
March 6, 2010 at 4:20 am
On Sunday, I really felt a challenge to reach as many people as possible with whatever money was inside. I received $20.00. In the previous Friday’s mail, I had received a letter from the Union Mission regarding their annual Easter Meal program. It has always amazed me over the years, how they continue to provide meals for so many at such a minimal cost. $19.20 would provide a complete Easter Dinner for 10 people. I signed the pre-printed Easter Meal Tickets, “With Love from Sonlight Church” and prayed that the Lord would feed the bodies and souls of the 10 people that would enjoy this hot meal. But, wait Lord I’ve still got 80 cents to spend. What can you do with that? The answer came in Wednesday’s mail. A letter from the local Prison Fellowship let me know that $20.70 could help 3 prisoners be reached with the gospel this Easter. So, by matching my original $20, I could now reach a total of 13 people with the Good News of Jesus! I know you’re saying, “Wait, don’t you still have 10 cents left?” Well, that was left in the form of 10 pennies at the local gas station in the “Need a Penny?” tray. So who knows…..maybe 23 people were blessed by a single envelope containing $20….P.S. Don’t worry Hershel, I’ll still find plenty of people to pass out the Revolution cards to personally…
March 6, 2010 at 4:27 am
My mom does volunteer work at the Women in Crisis & Recovery Shelter. I asked her to donate the $10.00 I received to the women for bus tokens. The women use the bus route to go to doctor appointments and job interviews.
March 6, 2010 at 12:59 pm
It looks like we all go shopping after church!!!
I gave my ten dollars to the lot attendant at Wal-mart. He was about my sons age(18), called me ma’am when I brought him my cart, and was working hard on a sunny, cold Sunday. Knowing most young adults aren’t willing to or don’t have to work, especially in a job that doesn’t seem very rewarding, I was very impressed with this young man. God put an image on my heart that the ten dollars I had would by him lunch. I went back to my car, wrapped the ten around Sonlight’s card, and handed it to him on my way out.
“I wanted to give you this,” I said, “God bless you.” He smiled and thanked mr and I drove away, feeling like I had just won the lottery!
March 6, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I prayed to God to tell me how to bless someone with the 20.00 I had been given. First , He gave me a memory of a night long ago when I was reading a library book and from between the pages a beautiful, unused sticker with the words JESUS LOVES YOU on it fell into my lap. Long story short..I needed those words that night. Then, the idea to match the money and buy a few Bibles for the gift baskets that Debbie Owens does for the Chesapeake Battered Women’s Shelter came to mind. I will put a card from Church and a JESUS LOVES YOU sticker between the pages in each Bible in the hopes that they will fall into someone’s lap at just the moment that they need to be reminded of just who loves them the most !
March 7, 2010 at 3:06 pm
I was at the gas station, filling my car and waiting for an opportunity. As I was pulling away, I noticed a woman was stopping to go inside 7-11. I wondered if she was the one God wanted to bless. I decided to drive around the block. As I came back toward the gas station I saw her minivan start driving away. I thought, ‘well I guess I missed it.’ However, she just stopped in the middle of the parking area and sat there, so I pulled back in. When I first spoke to her, she looked at me as if I was out of my mind, but as I pulled out the $100 bill that was in my envelope (plus the one that God had us match) I think she realized that God was blessing her today. That same day, Susan also had an opportunity to bless someone at the Dismal Swamp area with $40. Glory be to His eternal name—let’s make Jesus’ name famous in Chesapeake!
March 8, 2010 at 12:30 am
After service this morning, I was really excited to see who God would direct me to. I had spent all last week praying, and really never left the house! I was excited to get out by myself and minister to an unfamiliar person who God loves! I had to go to Lenscrafters to pick up my first pair of bifocals! They are running a special and it was an absolute zoo in there! I was by myself, so I sat and waited and asked God to help me bless someone. A precious woman came in with her teenage disabled daughter. She immediately caught my eye and after waiting together for our turns, I approached her and told her my church was participating in a campaign of generosity to the community and God had led me to her. She was so sweet and gracious! It was awesome to see the smile across her face and know that i had blessed her by letting her know God loves her and so does our Sonlight Church family! I gave her TWO invitation cards (so she could also invite a friend!
and she went on her way. It felt so great to be a blessing to a complete stranger and I pray I get to see her and her sweet daughter again @ Sonlight!
March 8, 2010 at 12:33 am
PS – I forgot to mention, I gave her the $10 in my envelop plus a match. It was an awesome feeling…..and I cant wait to do it again!!
March 8, 2010 at 3:40 pm
When Tabitha and I opened our envelopes, our thoughts immediately went to a woman that she works with. Her husband recently lost his job and their 12 year old son has a reoccurring tumor in his brain. Needless to say, they are going through a tough season right now. We combined our money and added some of our own to get her and her family a gift card to Food Lion. We figured that groceries would always be a need and felt this was how God wanted us to help. We put the gift card, an invite card, and a personal note in an envelope and left it for her at Tabitha’s work. She wasn’t working when we left it for her, but she just so happened to stop by to say hi. When she received the envelope, she came over to where we were sitting to thank us. We talked to her about her situation and invited her to Sonlight. Although it was a small gift, we felt like a little bit of her burden was lifted, even if it were for a little while. She promised she would come to Sonlight sometime before thanking us again and giving each of us a big hug. Please be praying for her and her family.
March 9, 2010 at 1:02 am
When I opened my envelope last week, my mouth dropped. I first saw the invite cards and a $100.00 bill and then right behind that was another $100.00 bill. I was in shock, but very excited. Braden and Steve each received $10.00, so we decided to put all of the money together. Steve and I prayed and God showed us right away a family that he wanted us to bless. You see one of our neighbors has taken in a young, single, non-working mom with a 1 and 2 year old. We decided to buy them 2 cases of diapers, a case of baby wipes, a big package of baby wash and several children’s outfits. My neighbor brought the mother and kids over this afternoon. I explained to her that our church had given out money last week to the congregation, so that we could bless someone in the community. I gave her an invite card and told her that we would love to have them visit Sonlight. I gave her the clothes, and then we walked outside to my car, I lifted the hatch and showed her all of the baby items. She said “Thank you so much, “I really appreciate you doing this.” By the way, being the bargain shopper that I am, I only spent $110.00. We are praying for God to reveal who he wants us to bless with the other $110.00. I love blessing others!
March 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Saturday I was starting to feel quite rushed about who I was going to bless with the money from my envelope. We had a busy day at a conference and then my husband and I went to dinner. We had time to spare before we picked the kids up, so we headed to Target. We got ready to get in one line to pay, when we saw Dan and Tabitha in a different line. We joined their line so we could chat. After going through the line, I started to feel a tug at my heart that I should have given the cashier the envelope and invite to church. Sean and I were outside at Target and he mentioned to me that our cashier might be the one to bless. I headed back in. By then, she had a line with about 4 customers. I headed to the back of her line. I wrapped the envelope money with the money we added to it around the invite card, and yes Hershel, I gave her two cards. At first she didn’t want to take it. I had to insist. I explained about our generosity campaign at church and I wanted her to know that God loved her and wanted to bless her. She came around the counter and hugged me. It felt really good to do this. My prayer is that I will see her at Sonlight soon.
March 9, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I was so excited to be able to give out my “blessing money” today! I’ve been praying since last Sunday that God would bring the right person across my path and honestly, I wanted a cool story to go with it! Well, I got a story today but not quite what I had in mind. Go figure…does God normally do it the way we are thinking?
I went to Bloom to pick up a few things and as I pulled in the parking space, a guy pulled in right beside me. We both opened our doors at the same time and he graciously closed his to let me out first. I did my shopping and was going toward the self checkout when he walked in front of me and said, “Here I am in your way again.” I immediately thought, “Maybe this is my person!” He was definitely crossing my path! I was waiting before scanning my items while an employee checked on an item for me and as I was waiting, the guy went to the self checkout right across from me. I had to believe he was the one. I took out the money ($20 I had received in my envelope with $20 I had put with it) along with an invite card, and handed it to him explaining that I wanted to bless him today. I told him that I attend Sonlight Church and explained what we were doing. He had a look of disbelief and said, “Give it to someone else,” and tried to give it back to me. I said, “No, you keep it. I want to bless you today. Receive the blessing.” He thanked me. I invited him to come to church and he asked about where we meet. I told him and then said that God loves him and so does Sonlight and I hope to see him soon.
I went back to my cart and began scanning my items. While I was scanning, the man came over to me and asked it I had another invite card! I said yes and gave it to him, as inside I was laughing hysterically thinking about what Hershel said Sunday about everyone giving out 2 cards. Too funny. Well, he walked over to a young couple and handed them the $40 along with an invite card. They had a stunned look on their face and he said, “Just read the card. This is from Sonlight Church. I received a blessing and now I’m blessing you.” He looked at me and held up the second invite card and said, “This one is for me.”
When I turned around to my cart, the worker there had already bagged and loaded everything for me so I headed out to my car and ran into the guy again as he was getting in his car. He thanked me again. As I was loading my groceries, the girl who bagged my groceries came running out and said, “You forgot to pay for your stuff!” What!!?? She said, “Yeah, I don’t want you to get in trouble!” Yeah, me either! Being arrested is not on my list of things to do in my lifetime, especially while trying to bless someone!
I put the bags back into my cart and headed back in the store, totally embarrassed, to pay for my items. As I walked in, everyone was looking at me and one of the workers said, “Welcome BACK to Bloom!” I guess everyone in the front of the store knew I left without paying! I assured them all that I am not a thief. After I paid and went back to my car, the young couple who ended up with the money was unloading their groceries into their car. I walked over and asked if I could explain about the money. When I told the guy I went to Sonlight Church and what we were doing, he said that he has visited Sonlight before and so has his mom. I had the opportunity to invite the couple to come back for a visit.
I just had to laugh at God’s humor and I choose to believe that my forgetting to pay for my groceries was God-ordained instead of blaming my age! I’m praying that God will use those encounters to draw these people to Sonlight and ultimately, to Him!
March 10, 2010 at 1:15 am
Our Revolution Offering Give-back Story:
After the service that first Sunday, we went to our car and opened the envelopes. I received $20, my wife received $50, and my son received $100. I thought it wasn’t right, I should have been the one who received the most because I am the man of the house, but did not take it away from my son because I figured maybe God was seeing him as ‘in training’ for future man of the house, so I decided I was ok with that.
We got home and I pulled my son aside and told him that we should go put on our worst work clothes to look poor, and go hang out in front of the church or around town in hopes of running into church members would see us, take pity on us, and give us some donations. As long as we could stay out there, we could rake in alot of cash. We could even promise them that yes, we would come to church the next Sunday. My wife, however, heard us talking and put an end to that plan.
So we prayed for God to lead us to those in need not just of money, but of Him. My son was the first to give his offering away. That same Sunday, he was at a friend’s house down the street, and a neighborhood boy was there. My son’s friends had been talking about that boy earlier, about how his family was destitute and had to move because they couldn’t pay the rent. My son felt led to give the large donation to that 16 year old boy, saying that it was a blessing from God, and that the church was giving it away. He gave the boy an invite card, but we did not see him in church the following Sunday, however my son’s three other friends witnessed the event and the faithfulness of my son in giving the money away rather that keeping it for himself, as they said they would have done. My son will follow up with the boy he gave the money to the next time he sees him and I’m sure his friends told their parents what happened as a further witness.
I was next to give money away. I prayed all week but nothing happened because I had to work long hours everyday, came home, then went to sleep. However, on Friday, a worker lost her job because her financial problems caused her to lose her security clearance. I felt a conviction to talk to this woman and see if she might be the one I was supposed to give the offering to. I began to explain to her that the poorest in our country are rich compared to most in this world, but I am not in another country, I am here. While I do support certain missions, I told her I wanted to help her. I told her about how our church gave back the offering and told us to bless others with it. She was hesitant to take the offering, but I felt all along she was the right one for it. She said that she and her husband go to church and tithe and understand that it comes back to you. I felt bad the amount was small so I matched it and presented her with the money and an invite card. She accepted it and hugged me. I told her it wasn’t the money that would help her, it was God, and maybe this was the start of something. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and by the way she was acting, she did too. She is not from the area, and I did not see her in church Sunday, but the event will cause discussion when she tells her husband about what happened and I pray they will draw near to God.
My wife was the last one to give the money away. She had expressed being drawn to a family in need on our street but didn’t know how to approach them. When we arrived home from church the following Sunday (last week), three girls from that house suddenly appeared at our door looking for my daughter. My wife used to opportunity to invite herself over to their house and gave the mother the gift and an invite card after explaining the church’s plan. My wife noticed the austere conditions of the home and felt God again, had led our family to the right person; the woman was speechless in her appreciation. We know God has used these two weeks so far with all of the other members of the congregation to awaken parts of the community to His existence—what a Revolution!
March 10, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Hi, Our family just started attending Sonlight in January and have so enjoyed stepping into such a big, friendly, joyful church family! I received 20 dollars in my envelope and felt led to bless a long time neighbor who is a non practicing catholic. She is Hispanic so I bought her a bilingual Bible and took her out to lunch today. I was praying for God to direct the conversation as I am NOT an evangelist! We went to the Savannah Family Bar and Grill and after we ordered she mentioned that they had started attending a catholic church in Va Beach with kid friendly programs. I had left her gift in the car and ran out to get it and gave it to her and she started crying and saying she had been looking for a bilingual Bible every where and wanted to know where I got it so she could buy more for her family members. I told her about the church and their desire to bless the community and she was thrilled to be on the receiving end and the conversation turned to personal issues for 3 hours and ended up with me giving her the name and phone number of my Christian therapist for her to work through some heavy duty issues.I didn’t hand her the card (shame on me) but will give it to her later. God is doing a slow deep work in her,please pray for her.
March 11, 2010 at 12:41 am
I was one of the members had yet to bless the community with the Revolution money. I finally had the opportunity to get out there and do it. I received $100 in my envelope, my wife had $10, and my son had $20. I initally thought about going to a auto mechanic shop and seeing if I could help someone out. I then felt compelled to bless as many people as I could with the money. I headed off to the 7 Eleven near WalMart and noticed when I pulled in that it was empty. It was the perfect opportunity to talk to the sales clerk. We discussed the weather for a few minutes and then I told him about my charter from the church. I handed him the $10 with a card and told him I would be out there blessing people for a little while and not to worry. He was very grateful and had no problem with my being there. As I walked outside, cars starting literally pouring in. I walked up to six different cars and handed each of them $20 and a card. I told them each of what Sonlight had done for us and what we were doing- I offered to help pay for their gas. I didn’t care if the car was a beater or BMW- they were in the right place, at the right time. It felt really good to bless those people and spread the messege about a Revolution! Hershel, I did go back to a kid from Grassfield High (he was in a baseball uniform). I felt it was important to give him a couple of more cards to give to his friends if he wanted to. I told him about our youth ministryand told him to show up in uniform if he wanted to- it doesn’t matter to us. He thanked me again and said he would let his friends know. I pray that the blessings bestowed on the community reaches someone. To me, each blessing is like a seed- they don’t all sprout. If we remain faithful and care for them, only God knows what will grow. Revolution, baby!!
March 11, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Jeff and I were both given $20.00 each in our envelopes. That Sunday, as soon as we got home, Jeff stated that he new exactly what he was going to do with his money.
We just had new neighbors move in next door a couple months ago and they had asked us if we could check their mail for them while they were gone out of town. Well, it wasn’t just letters. There were packages and a box that Jeff had to use a dolly to move from their porch to our garage. Upon their return we learned that they were on their honeymoon and they had just been married. This would explain the packages and such.
Jeff decided that he wanted to take his $20.00, match it and purchase a gift card for them not only to congratulate them on their wedding but also to welcome them to the neighborhood, introduce ourselves deeper than just names, bless them and invite them to Sonlight. Instead of Jeff matching it, I decided that this should be a blessing from both of us so I put my $20.00 with it. We placed it in a weddiing card, with the gift card and only ONE Sonlight card in their mail box this morning.
Love thy neighbor. Beings Jeff and I are just beginning on our journey, I think it’s fitting that we used our money to honor one of the first commandments we learn as Christians.
Now getting back to only giving out one card….Jeff took all of our cards because he says that on Sunday mornings there are a ton of police cars at the 7-11 on Moses Grandy and George Washington Hwy. He is going to continue on with his generousity just as Pastor Hershel instructed and buy them all coffee as well as pass out the remaining cards.
Based on the stories posted so far and what we’ve heard, God is moving through Grassfield!!
March 11, 2010 at 10:48 pm
My children and I had a pizza party one day last week after school to reward the children for doing such a great job. So we ordered the pizza online and payed the normal tip. Before the pizza was delivered I felt impressed on my heart to give my husbands and my Revolution money as an additional tip to whoever delivered the pizza to us. When the doorbell rang and the pizza arrived, I said, “Thank you. We want to bless you with an extra tip today because God loves you.” So I gave him the $20 and an invitation card to Sonlight. He seemed very surprised and yet very grateful.
March 12, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I held on to the ten dollar bill in my red “give back” envelope, waiting for the perfect situation to bless someone. I waited and waited, until it was Sunday morning again and I still had not blessed anyone.
I felt bad about that and thought I blew it. When I found out that I was not the only one who hadn’t given it away yet, I was determined to bless someone during that second week. It wasn’t looking too promising until (duh) I asked God to lead me to the person He wanted me to bless, to open my eyes to what He wanted me to do, and to know when I came across the right person. As soon as I prayed and trusted the Lord to lead me, I immediately knew who to bless.
There is a wonderful person who works in the school where I work. She is from Antigua. She, like many others, has dealt with many hardships in life. I have known her for six years. Through our morning chats, I have learned that she has dealt with a broken marriage, has raised two children to adulthood on her own, one of which has special needs. She recently planned her daughter’s wedding and helps her son get to and from work everyday, often taking her lunch break to do this. She has lost her mother and a niece in the past year. She studied to become an American citizen and was very excited about that. She takes on extra volunteer duties at school and does it with a smile, always putting the students first. She is a kind, caring person and she is my friend.
When I finally realized that I don’t necessarily need to find a person who is down to their last dime, who miraculously needs exactly ten dollars to pay a bill or something, I was able to see that it’s o.k. to bless someone just because they need it. We all need to be reminded of God’s love and that we matter and are loved by others.
So, I went to my friend and told her of our reverse offering at Sonlight and that we were to go out and bless someone with it. I told her I wanted to remind her that God loves her and I love her and that she is appreciated. I gave her two invitation cards and told her to “come and see” and to share one of the cards with someone else. Her eyes teared up and she hugged me tight and said, “I love you. You are going to make me cry. I needed that this week.”
And then I thought, God knows what He is doing….it was only logical for me to bless her, because she blesses me every day.
March 12, 2010 at 11:04 pm
I attend Grassfield High School I actually gave my blessing the first week, but was unable to post, because I have been on computer restriction. My story goes like this. My friend and I were sitting in class and I asked him why he was so down and he told me that he and his mother were having hard times and he could not afford to eat lunch this week. So with my blessing of ten dollars from my envelope I gave it to him for lunch, told him our story about church and let him know that God Loves him and his mother and will take care of them both. He didnt believe me at first, he thought the money was fake and I told him that the money was real and its for you.
March 13, 2010 at 1:42 am
I received $10 in my envelope. I prayed for a week and felt that I was to pay for someone’s gas. One day I drove up to a gas station and hung out there like a stalker and just didn’t feel lead toward anyone. So the next week I went back and just said “God I am going to bless the next person who drives up”. That may have been impatient of me, but I really wanted to bless someone and I thought to myself that God loves us all equally and who are we to think someone deserves it more than the other. So the person who drove up was a women in a mini van with kids in the back seat. I said “excuse me I would like to pay for your gas today”. She said, “NO! Why”? And I said, “Because God loves you and my church is wanting to bless the community, so instead of taking up an offering, they gave us money to bless others”. She said that she had visited Sonlight before and liked it. She also told me she knew a few people who attend Sonlight. So I told her that we would love for her to come back and I introduced myself. She told me her name too but I forgot it because I was so dang nervous! I swiped my card with shaking hands and could barely remember my pin number! I also forgot to hit ENTER for a long time! Haa! Anyway, we added the rest of the money so that she could fill her tank. She was very grateful! Gosh that felt good and I can’t wait to bless another person!
March 14, 2010 at 1:35 am
When I received my envelope, I knew exactly who I was to bless. I opened the envelope and found $100. I gave the cash to a co-woker with a large family and very difficult financial times.
The exchange went like this. I told him our church gave out a gift to each person in atendance, and we were to pick someone to give the money to. So, I handed him the envelope and said it was a blessing from God. He lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. I shared some info about our church meeting in a school auditorium and this was the start of a building campaign. We were both convinced God was in charge of the “blessing” because he shared with me his church is a very small church, meeting in someone’s home, and looking for a bigger meeting place, like a school auditorium. God is so good.
March 14, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Friday morning the mother of one of my students brought his backpack to the bus steps and said “maybe we will be able to get him a new one this payday” I know it had been broken for a while and he has a really hard time with it! I knew right then this was who God wanted me to bless! I didn’t have time at the moment but decided to put the $10 and add another $10 in an envelope with a note and an invite card and leave it on their door. When I told Eric what I planned to do, he told me to add his $10 with it bringing it to $30. I haven’t heard their response yet but will see them on Monday morning.
March 15, 2010 at 9:25 pm
The woman I left the money for was not at the bus stop this morning but another parent handed me an envelope from her. In her note she thanked me and told me to thank my church. She and her huband had been talking about wether or not to take money out of their already low bank account to get their sons prescription filled so he wouldn’t have to ga a day without it. then they found the money gift on their door. They were able to get his backpack and his medicine. She said they are members of a church and believe in the power of prayer but are always amazed when he answers so directly. She said she would pay it forward by being open to how the Lord will use them.
Needless to say I was crying as I read this. God is working in our community!!
March 15, 2010 at 2:23 am
Bob received $10 and I got $100 in our envelopes. Everytime we went out we were looking for someone to bless. Finally on Saturday Bob and I went to breakfast at IHOP. We prayed before we went in that if there was someone there that needed a blessing open our eyes and let us see them. I looked around the whole time we were eating wondering if this was the one we were supposed to bless. In walks a mother and her two kids and she looked pretty stressed. I know that look because I have 3 little girls myself. So, in my head I was like if she has the same waitress as us I know she is the one. She sat down and here comes our waitress. So, when our waitress handed us our check I asked if I could have the ladies check as well and explained about what Sonlight is doing. The waitress was excited as she handed me the checks. I gave her a card and asked her to hand it to the lady before she left. We also blessed our sweet waitress with an extra tip.
We still had some money left so we started praying again for God to show us who needed a blessing. Bob stopped by Wendy’s the next day because he just had to have a Frosty. He noticed a guy with 2 kids behind him in the drive thru. He gave the lady at the window some money to pay for the car behind him, along with a card.
I was still looking for someone else to bless. As I was at the intersection of Lynnhaven Pkwy. and VA Beach Blvd. I saw a homeless man holding a little sign standing in the median. I felt like this is who I’m supposed to give the remaining money to. I turned around and got beside him rolled down my window and handed him the money and a card. I told him God loves him and he said to me “Bless you”.
It felt so good to bless all of these different people. I thank God for leading us to all of them and I hope it brought some joy and happiness into their lives.
March 15, 2010 at 11:44 am
All of us want stories to tell about how we used the money and how the people responded right away. Well, to be honest, I’m more interested in what our blessing project will accomplish in the lives of those that we bless over the next few months. I’m praying that many of them will come to faith in Christ because they remember someone once told them that God loves them and they matter to God. I’m praying that our act of generosity will spark their interest in going to a church someday and surrendering their lives to Christ. You see, the truth is that we will not even get to see a glimpse of all that God will do through our act of generosity.
I felt like God wanted me to bless the person working the drive through. In my envelope I had $10, so I added $40 more to it, gave her three invite cards, and told her that I wanted to bless her and the two cars behind me. I asked her to give the invite cards to the cars behind me and tell them that Sonlight Church wanted to be a blessing to them today. Then I told her to keep the change. It’s an awesome feeling to bless others and brighten their day. God, may you use our generosity to draw people to Yourself!
March 15, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Just like all who received this blessing I personally took it as a great responsibility. This gift of $20.00 was Gods personal savings intrusted to me to provide a direct blessing to someone. I thought I knew immediately how this would be best used, notice the words,”I Thought..”, well GOD did not agree with me and after 10 days of waiting for the opportunity God presented a totaly different opportunity. It was this past Wed evening as I was returning home from dropping kids off at the youth life group my wife asked if I could pick up something from Farm Fresh..
( there is something about the local grocery stores ) After picking up my one item I proceeded to the check-out and just as I was getting to the empty counter a woman appeared with a cart of items. (So much for the quick in and out) well she insisted that I go ahead of her since I only had but the one item. I thanked her and told her she was fine, she continued to insist that I go ahead. I thanked her again and as I moved past her I felt God pushing along telling me to use his money. I pulled out the $20.00 and added a $20.00 to it and wrapped the bills around an invite card. As I checked out I handed this to the woman and explained what had occured with the Offering at Sonlight. As I was speaking the womans daughter appeared and seem to be astonished by the event. The woman told me that she was unable to accept the offer. I continued to explain that this was not a gift from me but a Gift from God. She accepted at this point and explained that she was looking for a home church. I look forward to the day that I see her and her family at Sonlight. On a side note. The people who are a witness to the events are truly moved. The cashier, other patrons, children… We can not underestimate the great responisbility God has put before us. I just pray that I treat ALL of GOD’s Gifts that he provides daily as i did this one.
March 17, 2010 at 7:42 pm
just an update on my neighbor, I gave the Bible to- She says she has started at the beginning and is reading it every night. She says she has been sleeping better and wakes up feeling refreshed with more energy. We are going to start a gary smalley video series together on relationships.
March 18, 2010 at 11:35 am
This morning I returned to the drive thru where I blessed the person with $50 total, told her to pay or the two cars behind me and to keep the change. When I saw her this morning, she told me that she blessed four customers behind me and they were all very thankful. Then she took the remaining amount and split it with her co-worker! Being a blessing to others is a contagious thing! It spreads like crazy! I’m ready to do some more crazy loving and blessing! God, who will you bring across my path next?
March 20, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I was blessed by your recent random acts of kindness. Amy blessed me and my children with gifts and a cash gift to buy them things they need. i have ALS and it financially draining as well as limits my ability to go out and purchase things for my 6 and 7 year olds.
Thank you for blessing me! God is good!
March 21, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Sunday after I received the blessing my mom came home and told me about a man at her work that has been having a hard time recently financially and emotionally. I knew he was the one, but because I had never actually met him I was confused as to how I was supposed to bless him. So Wednesday when I was sitting in the Chesapeake General lobby I noticed a little piece of paper it had a poem of hope on it and thats when it dawned on me send hem a letter. So I sent him a letter, a copy of the poem, the $10, and the invitation card. (p.s. sorry it took so long to post)
March 24, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Last Saturday (3/20) we were working in the yard when a young boy walked up selling products to raise money for Teens Against Drugs and Alcohol–TADA. We struck up a conversation and I learned that he is 13, goes to Lake Taylor Middle School, lives part of the time with each of his two grandmothers–who each take him to church–and his mom. His home life sounded very unstable but I learned that he knew Jesus and had never done drugs and except for repeating the fourth grade, he was on track to become a fireman. If he sold enough stuff from his container, he would win a trip to Kings Dominion. His water bottle was empty so I offered to refill it. As I turned to go inside, Lorie reminded me quietly that we had not distributed our blessing yet. So, I went in the house, filled his water bottle, retrieved some money for some goodies and put our blessing (which we had matched) in an envelope with two (2), yes two invite cards to Sonlight. I gave him the money for the goodies from his container then I handed him the envelop with the blessing and the invite cards inside and told him to give it to his grandmother. He didn’t ask which one and I figured that God would ensure it got to the right one.
He seemed like a really great kid in spite of his home life and I enjoyed talking with him. What a wonderful God we serve.