I shared this story at the end of one of my speeches this morning and actually teared up as I told it…it made me realize that it was worth telling.
I give speeches in a wide variety of settings…board rooms, class rooms, warehouses, factories and everywhere in between. Last week, I spoke at both a wine tasting for young professionals as well as a farm with migrant workers. It was actually at the farm that the story I want to share comes from. The company is a nursery company (as in plants, not young children) that has over a dozen farms in the St. Paul area. I had spoken at one of their other sites the previous week. As we were walking into the meeting, I asked my contact how many employees she expected to be there this day. She said, “well, we had to lay off a large number of them last week (due to lack of work/finances), so, there will be probably around 20.” Let’s just say that it is pretty intimidating to walk into a room for the purpose of asking money when you know that the audience members were just spared losing their jobs and probably have to take into account every penny. Also, because the majority of employees are workers from Central America, my contact had to translate my words into Spanish…I gave a sentence, she translated it, etc. Because this process doubled the amount of time needed to speak, I truncated my speech…a lot. I still got the general message across, but it was far from my greatest or most eloquent performance. Well, as it turns out, it didn’t matter. Little did I know that I would be the one learning the lesson that day. After I finished speaking, another coworker said a few words just to give a bit more information. After she finished, the contact at the company gave out the pledge forms. Giving is completely voluntary and especially in a setting like this, where these men clearly didn’t have a ton of extra income to go around, I wasn’t expecting much of a return. Thus, I have to be honest that I was quite surprised, and very humbled, when one of the men returned his pledge card with five $1 bills attached to it. $5. Now, in the grand scheme of things that isn’t very much. But, for this man, it was clear that $5 was a sacrifice. The other men watched as this gentleman turned in his pledge card and then quietly left the room. As for myself, I couldn’t watch him, as I had to turn my head to wipe away the tears that were forming…just as I’m wiping away tears even as I write this now.
This experience immediately reminded me of the woman in Scripture who gave her two small coins…all she had. Others were giving heaps compared to her tiny contribution, but yet, we’re told that her gift was of greater value. Her gift was a sacrifice.
I tell this story because I’ve realized that it is pretty rare that I sacrifice for the sake of others. I give, often even, but when was the last time I really sacrificed myself for someone else?
Know that I’m thinking of and looking out for ways in which to do so…soon.
