Comments on: Tell Us Your Story…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:52:26 +0000

asas

By: A Giver

A Giver — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:33:02 +0000

We were having lunch after church Sunday and as has become our custom, we blessed the waitress with a 30% tip. We were all out of Sonlight cards so I wrote on the bottom of the reciept where the tip was, “Because you matter to God.”

By: Kendra Austin & Whitney Anderson

Kendra Austin & Whitney Anderson — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:49:14 +0000

Kendra and I were out shopping for the Women’s Retreat and stopped to have lunch. As we were sitting there, a lady walked in and asked if we had any change so that she could get something to eat. Kendra and I were able to bless her with a little more than change and it was a great feeling. She was able to get something to eat and was very appreciative.

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:22:08 +0000

I have been meaning to post my story on this site- I’m glad I finally got the chance to read the stories and tell my own. Good job Sonlight on spreading the love
I really felt that i should split my gift into 2. One morning, I woke up with this particular coffee shop drive through in my head, and just couldnt get it off my mind. So i stopped for a latte, and dropped a large tip and one of the cards into the barista’s jar when she wasnt looking. I drove away grinning, and i hope it lifted some of the stress i saw on her face.
The next week, i was in Georgia visisting family. The other half of the gift was bugging me- i had no idea who to give it too, and kept praying that the opportunity would present itself. So in a little beauty parlor in the georgia mountains was a doantion box for a teen boy that was going on a mission trip to africa. I dont know why, but he was the one i was waiting for. maybe it was the memories of my life-changing trip to africa… i dont know. but i put everything i had with me in that box, and felt great about it. he will know that even a random church several states away is connected to him in hope and prayer.
When i got home from my trip, it was time to get back to reality, and face the difficulties of my own situation. i had no money, had just lost a week’s pay, and was trying to figure out how i was going to feed my daughter and me for a month with nothing but the canned goods my grandfather had shoved in the trunk of my car. ever tried to meal plan for 4 weeks around kidney beans, diced tomatoes and one sprouting onion???? not fun.
so immagine the surprise, and thankfulness when i checked my mail and saw that someone out there had chosen to share their blessing with ME! In the mail was two food lion gift cards and one of the “because you matter” cards. I was so relieved, I cried. This meant $10 a week in produce- we would eat! and then maybe 4 days later, in the mail was another gift card. I was stunned. And so grateful for it when i went grocery shopping this weekend. Between those 3 cards, i had been gifted with the entire week’s food and household budget.
So thank you Sonlight for looking around and seeing others in your community! And thank you to whoever my mystery angels were. It was such a wonderful way for God to show me that he hasn’t forgotten about us. I needed that reminder!
God Bless

By: Steve & Kathleen Bradshaw

Steve & Kathleen Bradshaw — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:01:20 +0000

I had to laugh as I read about husbands and wives disagreeing on who should receive the blessing. This is why I’m writing to you today instead of the day we took the envelope. But what Hershel said last Sunday really got me into gear. There was no way I was going to pass this opportunity up! My family and I went out to eat after Sunday’s service. We couldn’t agree where to go (imagine that!) so we ended up at a buffet where everyone could pick and choose to their heart’s desire. As soon as I looked into the waitress’s eyes, I knew she was the one. I got so excited and exclaimed to Steve, “She’s the one! I just know it!” I waited for him to agree, the whole time praying that he would see what I did. After she came back and offered him coffee before he even asked, he smiled and gave the thumb’s up. I literally ran to the car and retrieved the envelope. Steve added to the amount and when it was time to leave, gave her the gift and card. We turned around and left before there was a chance for her to look. As we were walking out (no doubt with huge smiles on our faces) Gena says to me, “Don’t worry mom, you’ll get your Disney channel response some other time.” I laughed out loud because I already had something better.

By: Jay & Liz McCarty

Jay & Liz McCarty — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:55:44 +0000

As most of you have gotten to know Liz and I, we hardly agree on anything …. which makes for a more eventfull and growing life. If you had read Liz’s earlier entry ….. she and I decided that we would split up our gift … and give it separately. This morning a woman that I have known since I starting working here over 4 years ago …. came in asking how much a service cost ….. and did we have any coupons ….. this lady has never asked me that question, ever … it was always …. here’s my keys .. do what needs to be done. So after writing her up … I asked her how things were going …. only to find out … that she’s going through a nasty divorce …. losing her job …. trying to live on what little bit her husband gives her …… she only had a $100 left to put food on the table, for her and her 2 children …. and gas in the car. And with that she was also figuring in what a service was going to cost …… which between the service and gas would have probably eaten up more than $100 ….. so …. after we finished servicing the car … I paid for it ….. and at the same time ….. gave her a CD of Maggie Row …. a girl that I have been recording in my studio …… it’s all music of faith … in fact the CD is titled “I Find Faith” ….. along with that wrote the web address for our church …. along with the physical address and phone # …. hopefully as she listens to the CD ….. God may touch her heart

By: David and Margo Farwell

David and Margo Farwell — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:53:01 +0000

It’s kind of sad that it has taken us this long to finally use the envelopes provided at church, but I have to say that it was well worth the wait! I have breakfast with a couple of students every Thursday morning. On this past Thursday, we went to a new place for breakfast, the Broken Egg. That morning, I was talking to the Lord, and He reminded me of the envelope. I was so excited to see what opportunity God would provide that morning to be a blessing to another. As we were eating breakfast, I couldn’t help but notice that our waitress seemed down. I began to ask God if this would be the person that He wanted me to bless. After asking several times (my own Gideon moment!) it was very obvious that I was to give this money to the waitress. I added some of our own money to the tip, and left without really knowing how this money blessed her. What I do know is that it was an incredible experience, and it was also great to share that experience with some students and to see their reactions as well. God is using this whole movement in such a powerful way! Keep it up Sonlight! God does amazing things when we give!
And to the waitress, I hope that you see that this money is just a small representation of such an incredible God who loves you so very much!

By: Luigi Caprio

Luigi Caprio — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:18:42 +0000

My wife and I were blessed the other day while having dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Once a week we go out on a date night. This happened to be our night. We were seated in a back corner of the restaurant. Sometime between our appetizer and entree a very nice lady, I believe her name is Debbie, came up and blessed us with an envelope. She said it would bless our little family. My wife opened it while “Debbie” was still at the table and we were both floored and left speechless. We both hugged the nice lady and she went on her way. Both my wife and I read the card and looked all over the envelope to try and get more information. We couldn’t wait to get home so we could look up this website and see what it was all about. We came home and read over the entire site. It was nothing short of amazing to read the stories. I have to be honest we have been planning on posting but have waited to see if “Debbie” would post before us. We kind of wanted to see why God led her to us. We figured it was because my wife is almost 9 months pregnant. We have had many discussions since then on how she found us. We were in the hardest to see table in the entire restaurant. We also discuss almost nightly how blessed we have been in our lives. We try to give all that we can to people and have been blessed in return. It is almost like it almost always does a big circle. Of course we don’t do it for this reason. Well the full reason we are posting today is to say Thank You and let “Debbie” know that we are using the money to open a savings account for our soon to be little girl. We also plan on letting little Carson know that the savings account was opened because God loves her. We plan to tell her the story some day. Thank You “Debbie.” Thank You Sonlight Church and God bless all of you for what you are doing.

By: Amy Newman

Amy Newman — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:41:36 +0000

I have been so excited about this challenge! I’ve been praying for several weeks and asking God to show me who he wanted me to bless. Well, God spoke to me yesterday and today about one of my co-workers. I was in a tutoring meeting yesterday and heard this person say that she had tutored afterschool before, but that once she had her son she wasn’t going to tutor again. She said that because of her recent divorce, she was needing extra money to make ends meet. By the way, her son is a special needs child. Anyway, I heard what she had said but didn’t think much of it. Every night and every morning I have been praying for God to show me “the one”. This morning as I was driving to work I was praying for God to show me who……and then this person’s name and face came right to me. I couldn’t wait… I went into school, put the money, the Sonlight card, and a small note that read…because you matter to God in an envelope and put it in her school mailbox and went to my classroom. Within about 15 minutes, I had to pass her room to go and get my students off of the bus. As I passed her room, she saw me and said “Amy, is this from you?” and pointed to the envelope on the table. I shook my head No, but I’m not a good liar. She said, “Well, You’re the only one that I know that goes to this church.” I said, “yes, it’s from me, but I hadn’t wanted you to necesarily know that.” Anyway, she said, “You didn’t have to do that, but Thank You so much. Then she said “Is this from you or your church?” I said both! Needless to say….I had a wonderful Tuesday!!

By: Sheryl Wilson

Sheryl Wilson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:07:02 +0000

When we first took this challenge, I felt God telling me I would be blessing someone I know personally. I kept reading everyone’s entries feeling guilty that I had not had the opportunity to follow through with my challenge. I kept praying asking the Lord to send someone. Yesterday after church I had to do a few errands before Dan left for work. When I finally got home I decided to sit and rest for a few minutes. As I was sitting on the couch, I picked up the phone and scrolled through the caller ID to see if anyone had called. There was a number that I didn’t recognize and they had not left a message. I ask Keifer if someone had called and he said oh yea your niece called. This particular niece never calls me. After asking a few more questions, I realized that it wasn’t my niece who had called it was someone else we knew with the same name. I called the number back and sure enough it wasn’t my niece. She told me she wondered if Keifer told me she had called. I hadn’t heard from this person for some time. Over the last four months, I have called her several times to let her know I was thinking of her and it there was anything she needed to call me. The last two times I called I left messages but she didn’t return my call. I knew she was pulling away from the people who care about her. Even though there is a 20 year age difference, over the years we had built a bond with one another. A lot of the things she struggles with I struggled with when I was her age. So we talked for a while she told me where she was living and what was going on in her life. I was so glad she finally called me. Before we hung up, she asked if I could do her a favor. She asked if I could loan her some money until she got paid. At this point, it didn’t matter that she called to borrow money because I had told her in the past that if she needed anything to call me. The time had come…. she needed my help. When I hung up the phone, I immediately got confirmation that this was the person I was to bless. I went to the bank and on the way back I stopped and bought a beautiful card to tell her I love her and that even though she is struggling, God is always there for her. I slipped a “Because you matter” card inside with a note to say this was a gift because “SHE” matters.