Generous people are a pleasure to know, and I know (and love) two sisters who are models of generosity. Priscilla and Nathalie were members of Moody Church long before I was, and as soon as they signed on, they began working in the Sunday school.

Both loved children and served faithfully in the two-year-old department for decades. That’s where our paths crossed 40 years ago as Nathalie (left) and Priscilla cheerfully received each of our toddlers when they left the nursery to attend “real” Sunday school. Whether our little ones walked into the class wearing smiles or frowns, these ladies always received them with love.

Our children learned their first Scripture verses from Nathalie and Priscilla, along with how to share, how to wait their turn, and how to sit still for flannel-graph Bible stories. When Nate and I returned to pick them up after the adult service each week, these two women always had something positive to say about the morning.

Priscilla and Nathalie have always been generous, with their time, energy, ideas, and good cheer. But that’s not all. They’ve lived lives of monetary generosity, too.

Over the years they’ve loved going out for daily brisk walks, regardless of the weather. After they moved to a suburb near ours, I’d often see them “hoofing it” around town as I buzzed about in my mini-van. It puzzled me that sometimes they’d be walking along the edge of our residential roads rather than on the sidewalks, so one day I asked.

Nathalie said, “Over the years we’ve found pennies or other coins on our walks. In recent years we figured there were even more coins near the curbs, and once we even found a fifty dollar bill!”

As I complimented them on their clever idea, Priscilla said, “Every November we put whatever we’ve found during that year into the Thanksgiving offering at church.”

And that’s where the generosity comes in. They could easily have kept what they found over the years, rationalizing that it “didn’t amount to much.” But Nathalie, a whiz with numbers, has kept track of what they’ve found, and pennies have morphed into dollars….

$1738.81 of them, to be exact.

In 2013 these energetic sisters finally had to call a halt to their neighborhood hiking. But my guess is that God has received their offerings, from pennies to bills, and transformed them into giant blessings in the lives of many. That’s because it was into his hands that they placed their findings.

And one day, when they get to glory, he’ll probably give them all the details.

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)

Praising and Praying with Mary

1. I praise God for my wonderful family!
2. Please pray I’ll have eyes that recognize God’s blessings in each day.

* Photos by Olin Mills