there's always enough

with all that is going on this weekend with the intensive, we experience the beauty of god's generosity and a small miracle of provision.  when kimmy originally asked us speak on the saturday night, he wanted to use the time to commission us back to the u.s. and take up an offering for communality as a gift of support and friendship from forge.  in an effort to cultivate an ethic of generosity (which is hard work over and over again), geoff and i felt it was the right thing to give any money raised away.  billy readily agreed only with the slightest wince because he pays the bills for communality and he knew that we didn't have enough money for the upcoming month to pay the rent at the high st house. 

as we approached the time of the intensive we learned of the devastating fire in philadelphia that destroyed the central place for the simple way community and at least eight homes of families on their street - a very poor part of the city.  we told kimmy we would like any money raised to be given to the fund to support these families as the simple way would distribute it.

on saturday night, folks gave $500 in offering to this cause.  it exceeded our expectations and we were thankful forge could pass this money on to our friends in philly.  sunday morning we gathered at st martin's.  a week before this, john smith told us that the st marty's community wanted to give some money to take back to communality as a similar gift of friendship and support.  when we saw john yesterday, he generously gave us a check for $500 to give to communality.  the very amount we'd given away.

i was reminded immediately of the astounding verses in 2 corinthians that assures us about god's economy (2 cor 9:6-11).  in this passage, we are promised that in all things at all times god makes all things available to us in order to be generous.  when we come to our end (of our resources of love, patience, time, grace, money, willingness to be inconvenienced, etc) god begins and gives us what we need to be people of generosity.  the three of us offer our thanksgiving to god that this ethic, this promise of god's economy is real and at work in our midst.