FEATURED

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work". - 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, NIV

I had to get a physical for insurance purposes the other day. Isn't it a little ironic that they take a quart or two of blood, then tell you you're border-lining on anemia? It's nice that they'll give you that personal touch and come right to your home. But then they get a little more personal and ask every question in this health universe and the next. And would you believe that on top of the pokes and the gazillion questions, that smarty little nurse girl made me weigh in? That was past personal and downright merciless. Adding weight-insult to poke-injury, she even brought her own scale! It was like she thought I was going to cheat, for pete's sake. Hey, if I had planned to cheat I probably would've started with my date of birth.

To further the exasperation, her scale was obviously out of calibration. Way out. I stepped on, looked down at the number, then looked behind me to see if smarty-nurse had gotten on there with me. Okay, she wasn't on the scale. But I definitely started to seriously question her credentials about that time. Surely no legitimate health care professional would give a person a weight number like that without a crash cart handy. Some anti-depressants at the very least. This is all pretty personal, but let me just tell you that this is not a good way to get a good rate on a new insurance policy. The rate quote? That was painful, too.

While we're getting personal, I think sometimes we sort of make things painful when they're really not. Giving, for instance. Not paying premiums, but real giving. And not just giving what's expected, but going radically beyond. Do you know what Jesus said about giving? In Luke 6:38 he said, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into y our lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (NIV).

Those words are painful when we're falling short. But they're so exciting when we're generously giving. Not that we should ever give just to receive a blessing, but the thought of blessings you can't measure is still thrilling. Overflowing blessings! No scales can measure. Only in this context, it's a good thing. A very good thing.

I was sort of hoping that all that blessing might mean we didn't even need the insurance. Either way, at any future physicals, I don't care what the nurse has in that big black bag. We're doing the weighing on MY scale.



© Rhonda Rhea 2008

Rhonda is a humor columnist for publications in the U.S., Canada and South Africa and has written hundreds of articles for Today's Christian Woman, Christian Parenting Today, Marriage Partnership, HomeLife, ParentLife and dozens more. Her book, "Amusing Grace" (Cook, 2003) is an insanely fun book for moms and "Turkey Soup for the Soul-Tastes Just Like Chicken" (Cook, 2004) is a hilarious book for "chicks." She has also written "Who Put the Cat in the Fridge?" (Cook, 2005), a humorous and helpful look at family life and "I'm Dreaming of Some White Chocolate-Christmas Reflections with a Little Holly and a Lot of Jolly" (Baker, 2006). Her newest book with Baker/Revell," High Heels in High Places",has just been released.RHONDA RHEA--speaker, radio personality, humor columnist, author of the fun books: *HIGH HEELS IN HIGH PLACES--Walking Worthy in Way Cute Shoes (Baker/Revell, 2007) *I'M DREAMING OF SOME WHITE CHOCOLATE (Baker/Revell, 2006) *WHO PUT THE CAT IN THE FRIDGE (Cook, 2005) *TURKEY SOUP FOR THE SOUL--TASTES JUST LIKE CHICKEN (Cook, 2004) *AMUSING GRACE (Cook, 2003) Listen to Rhonda on Focus on the Family's "Weekend Magazine" www.RhondaRhea.net

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"Let my words drop as the rain,my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass and as showers on the herbs" Deuteronomy 32:2,3 "I proclaim the name of the Lord and ascribe greatness to our God!"