real joy is the pits...er, fire pits

My oldest daughter, who is still paying off half a zillion dollars in student loans, called to chat with me the other day, and I could tell she was multi-tasking as we talked.

"Whatcha doin', babydoll?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm cleaning our grill and smoker. We're giving it to this guy who said he really wants it. He hasn't seen it yet, and I didn't want to give it to him without cleaning it out first," she said, "Hopefully he will like it. It's just too big for our little backyard."

Like mother, like daughter. I smiled, kind of feeling proud that I'd passed along my giving nature to her. When I lost my home in 2009, I gave all of my barely used furniture and appliances to my neighbor who had just replaced their old manufactured home with a new one. They were so thrilled, and couldn't believe that I didn't want any money in exchange. I always felt I got the better end of that deal, because I still smile at the memory of their joy.

My daughter said she had to get off the phone, because the guy had shown up to pick up the grill. She called me back afterward. "I'm so happy, Mommy! He loved the grill. He was so thrilled. It was so sweet to see him smiling." And, then she added, "You know, the other day we gave our fire pit to a couple who had been wanting one for months. We never used ours, and they couldn't afford one. It was practically brand new, and kind of expensive. So, when they saw it, they were ecstatic. I think it exceeded their expectations. They had tears in their eyes. You'd think they'd won the lottery. They were so cute, and I felt soooo good. And, my gosh, they drove over an hour and a half to come pick it up!"

I was beaming with mommy pride as I absorbed her words. Then I said, "You know, I believe that sometimes we buy things that we don't use, because God just wants us to be the keeper of that thing until it's time to release it to it's rightful owner at the right time."

There was silence on the other end of the phone as she grew thoughtful. "Yeah," she said slowly, "And, the joy it brought to me to see their joy...well...that was way better than money in the pocket."