KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Ask
MY FATHER SIMPLY couldn't be embarrassed when it came to fulfilling his family's needs...
I remember once we were driving down the road to our house when Dad spotted a broken Big Wheel tricycle in someone's trash. He stopped the car, picked it up, and knocked on the door of the home where the discarded toy lay waiting to be picked up. "I spotted this Big Wheel in your trash," he told the owner. "Do you mind if I take it? I think I can fix it. It would make me feel wonderful to give my son something like this."
What guts! Can you imagine such a proud, working-class guy approaching that woman and, essentially, admitting he's so poor that he'd like to have her garbage?
Oh, but that's not half of it. Imagine how that women felt, having been given an opportunity to give such a gift to another person. It surely made her day. "Of course," she gushed, explaining that her children were grown and that years had passed since they toy had been used. "You're welcome to the bicycle I have, too. It's nice enough that I just couldn't throw it away..."
So we drove on. I had a "new" Big Wheel to ride and a bike to grow into. She had a smile and a fluttering heart that only benevolence breeds. And Dad had taught me that there is genius, even kindness, in being bold." (Keith Ferrazzi)
THOUGHT: How many blessing do we forfeit because we don't have the "gumption" to ask the Father?
KneEmail: "...You do not have because you do not ask" (Jas. 4:2b; cf. Matt. 7:7-8, 11)