The Relativity of Sacrifice

One of our friends at The Springs donated a jacket for the homeless.

Not an unusual story, until you hear the backstory behind the donation.

Anne (not her real name) has had a hard life. A single parent of three boys (one living in Alaska), working two jobs while living in a housing complex for single and abused mothers and their kids, Anne has enough on her plate to keep her busy. Rent, gas, school supplies, all constant worries.

But God has done something in Anne's heart.

Anne needed a stove in her apartment to be able to keep living there. And God provided her a stove through some connections with our downtown campus.

Moved that someone would offer help for her family without knowing or judging her, Anne was determined to pass the blessing along. However, with her current life situation, extra funds were just not possible. Then the weather turned very cold, and God gave her an idea.

One of the cherished items from her past is an authentic leather Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing jacket. A holdover from better times, Anne decided that someone else might make better use of the jacket rather than it living in a closet as a collector's item.

So, Anne donated a jacket to the homeless.

Worth more than $250, this jacket, once sold, will purchase winter coats for 8 or 10 homeless people in Tulsa. And oh, what Anne could use that money for....

It is Anne's desire to help someone else. Anne chose to give sacrificially.

How long has it been since we have actually sacrificed something valuable to us for someone else? Maybe it's time....