Hope Spot 24 – What you reflect…

Something strange happened to me last week.

We got a new screen for our front door. The next day, the big window alongside it was cracked. The next day the crack had spread further.

I emailed the Screen Door People and sent them the photo you see here.

They replied in minutes (amazing), and said they would fix the window free of charge (even more amazing).

Phew, relief for me!

Until …

… the Window Man came, and suggested the crack might be caused by something different. A stray nail on the beading. Thermal heating (I looked it up – it’s a ‘thing’). But not the Screen Door People.

So now I had a decision.

I could accept what the Window Man said (even though it seemed a big coincidence), and pay his bill myself …

… or say nothing, and have the Screen Door People pay, and save myself $1,000?

What would you do?

I paid the bill (just as I know you would), then emailed the Screen Door People to tell them.

They called straight back.

And here’s what’s strange …

… they told me they were overwhelmed
that someone had been honest!

They said it was unheard of. Usually, they had angry people trying to rip them off.

I could hear actual joy in their voice.

They even said they’d share what happened with all their workers, to encourage them!

What a world when honesty is a rarity. Kindness a ‘luxury’.

So often, it’s me me me.

Or me first, and others distant second.

You, though, are different.

You think of others, even when things may be tough for you. You keep on being kind, even when it would seem easier to put yourself first.

That’s a real gift.

It’s why you are so precious to each person you help through ALWS:

… the children of war in Myanmar you help go to school with the 5:1 Government Grant

… the farmers you help increase their harvest in Burundi

… the children in Kharkiv, on the Ukrainian border with Russia, going to school in underground nuclear shelters converted to classrooms by our ALWS partner LWF, and then home to apartments you helped renovate after bombing.

These are just some of the 400,000+ people helped through ALWS this past financial year, which you’ll be able to read about all of this in your Report Back later this month!

As I write this, another man is putting film on our new window.

It will act like a mirror to give us privacy.

That made me think of these words from the Bible, which I share to encourage you:

For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; 
then we shall see face to face. 

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 
But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:12,13

Thank you for your faithful kindness, the hope you give, and most of all, the love you share and reflect into the world.

You are a blessing ALWayS!

PS: The new 5:1 Australian Government Grant for children of war in Myanmar is still available to increase the impact of your donation SIX TIMES. DONATE 5:1 NOW! Thank you!