Giving Blessing Boxes

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little." 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

I've written in the past how we have a creative use for those gold $1 coins we've been buying -- putting them into a "treasure chest" and giving them as a wedding present. Now, we've taken that idea and twisted it a bit -- giving small wooden boxes (purchased cheaply at Hobby Lobby) with the gold coins to people we know who are in need. We call these "blessing boxes."

So far, we've only done this once (with another box planned to be given when we see a friend at the end of the month.) The father of the family (a really great family, I might add) was the sole breadwinner (they own their own business) and he hurt his knee and needed surgery. In addition to giving them some food to help them make it through his time off, we also gave them a blessing box. They LOVED it (thought they initially thought it was a box of those gold-wrapped chocolate coins.) ;-)

It's simply a unique way to give someone cash without making it boring (like giving cash) or putting limits on it (like giving a gift card that can only be used at a certain store.) Plus, the box itself is a nice little "extra" gift. And, of course, the coins themselves are very unique since many people haven't yet seen/used them.

In the future, we hope to start surprising more people with these -- people who are down-on-their-luck, in a tough situation, or simply those who need a bit of extra income to make it through these tough times. I'll keep you informed of how these go -- if there's anything unusual that happens along the way. But for now, let me encourage you to consider doing something similar. Look for people who are more needy than you are (they shouldn't be hard to find) and see how you can bless them with your time, expertise/skills, and/or money.

Comments

[Bob]

That's a cool way to use those coins. Our church about a year ago did a reverse offering where we gave out $20 bills to everyone and all we asked is that they bless someone with it. The stories and testimonies were pretty incredible and that day we handed out the money, was one of our largest offerings. God does bless and provide for His children when we follow His word.