lottery office to see if they’d take the money back, but they wouldn’t. She wanted to buy a toaster, then give the rest of the money away. She talked about it with Asa at the supper table in late September.
“We need to be shed of that money. Every day it sitsin our bank account is a charge against our souls,” she warned.
“I thought I could use some of it to finish rebuilding the barn. I need to get that barn up. I’ve nowhere to put the tractor.”
“That barn is becoming a monument to our sin. We’ve made a mistake. Let’s not compound our error.”
Asa groaned. “Aw, Jessie, can’t we keep the money? It’s been so nice having a little extra. And what about our kids? Sure, they’re on their own and doing okay, but what if one of them got sick? What then?”
“We can do what we did before we had the money. We can trust God to care for our needs.”
“Oh, Jessie, you know I trust the Lord. You know I do.”
“Good, then getting rid of that money will be an easy matter.”
B ut it hadn’t been easy. They had put over three million dollars in certificates of deposit at Vernley’s bank. Every month, Vernley sends them a check for twenty thousand dollars. Jessie and Asa have no idea what to do with it.
Jessie had sent ten thousand dollars to Brother Norman’s shoe ministry to the Choctaw Indians, which infuriated the Friendly Women’s Circle of Harmony Friends Meeting. The Circle had raised seven hundred dollars for Brother Norman at their annual Chicken Noodle Dinner during the Corn and Sausage Days festival. They were so proud. It was the most money they’d ever raised for the shoe ministry.
Jessie was the treasurer of the Circle. She’d sentBrother Norman a check from the Circle, and had enclosed her personal check for ten thousand dollars. Brother Norman had sent a thank-you card, which Frank the secretary had posted on the meetinghouse bulletin board.
Dear Jessie:
Thank you so much for your generous gift to our shoe ministry. You are truly a saint. I can’t thank you enough.
Sincerely,
Brother Norman
P.S. Can you also thank the ladies for their donation?
“This is a fine state of affairs,” Fern Hampton complained. “You work all year making noodles and you get a little P.S. thank you. But you can sell your soul and hit it rich, and people call you a saint. That’s a fine how-do-you-do.”
Every time Jessie and Asa gave money away, it made someone mad. They donated another ten thousand dollars to the town for a new playground for the children. They’d done it anonymously, but Bob Miles had figured it out and written about it in the Herald. Anonymous Donors Give Money for Playground read the headline, but he had put Jessie and Asa’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary picture underneath it.
Someone clipped out the article and put it in the hymnbook on Jessie and Asa’s pew at church. They had written across the article, Some people will do anything to get their picture in the paper.
The next Sunday,Jessie opened the hymnal to number 127 to sing “Blessed Assurance” and the article floated to the floor at Dale Hinshaw’s feet.
Dale reached down, picked it up, and handed it to Jessie, saying, “Proverbs 16:18.” That was all he said. Proverbs 16:18.
During the quiet time, Jessie looked it up in her Bible. Pride goeth before a fall, she read.
She wanted to cry, sitting there in church, but she waited until she got home.
“And to think I gave Dale Hinshaw a chicken for his Scripture egg project,” Asa fumed. “I’ve half a mind to take that chicken back.”
He stewed about it for several days. Then on Tuesday he drove into town to Dale’s house and knocked on his door.
“Hi, Asa. What brings you here?”
“I’ve come for my chicken.”
“Uh, I thought it was mine to keep. Besides, it’s one of my best layers.”
“You should have thought of that before you insulted my wife.”
“Boy, Fern Hampton was right when she said what she said.”
“What
“We need to be shed of that money. Every day it sitsin our bank account is a charge against our souls,” she warned.
“I thought I could use some of it to finish rebuilding the barn. I need to get that barn up. I’ve nowhere to put the tractor.”
“That barn is becoming a monument to our sin. We’ve made a mistake. Let’s not compound our error.”
Asa groaned. “Aw, Jessie, can’t we keep the money? It’s been so nice having a little extra. And what about our kids? Sure, they’re on their own and doing okay, but what if one of them got sick? What then?”
“We can do what we did before we had the money. We can trust God to care for our needs.”
“Oh, Jessie, you know I trust the Lord. You know I do.”
“Good, then getting rid of that money will be an easy matter.”
B ut it hadn’t been easy. They had put over three million dollars in certificates of deposit at Vernley’s bank. Every month, Vernley sends them a check for twenty thousand dollars. Jessie and Asa have no idea what to do with it.
Jessie had sent ten thousand dollars to Brother Norman’s shoe ministry to the Choctaw Indians, which infuriated the Friendly Women’s Circle of Harmony Friends Meeting. The Circle had raised seven hundred dollars for Brother Norman at their annual Chicken Noodle Dinner during the Corn and Sausage Days festival. They were so proud. It was the most money they’d ever raised for the shoe ministry.
Jessie was the treasurer of the Circle. She’d sentBrother Norman a check from the Circle, and had enclosed her personal check for ten thousand dollars. Brother Norman had sent a thank-you card, which Frank the secretary had posted on the meetinghouse bulletin board.
Dear Jessie:
Thank you so much for your generous gift to our shoe ministry. You are truly a saint. I can’t thank you enough.
Sincerely,
Brother Norman
P.S. Can you also thank the ladies for their donation?
“This is a fine state of affairs,” Fern Hampton complained. “You work all year making noodles and you get a little P.S. thank you. But you can sell your soul and hit it rich, and people call you a saint. That’s a fine how-do-you-do.”
Every time Jessie and Asa gave money away, it made someone mad. They donated another ten thousand dollars to the town for a new playground for the children. They’d done it anonymously, but Bob Miles had figured it out and written about it in the Herald. Anonymous Donors Give Money for Playground read the headline, but he had put Jessie and Asa’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary picture underneath it.
Someone clipped out the article and put it in the hymnbook on Jessie and Asa’s pew at church. They had written across the article, Some people will do anything to get their picture in the paper.
The next Sunday,Jessie opened the hymnal to number 127 to sing “Blessed Assurance” and the article floated to the floor at Dale Hinshaw’s feet.
Dale reached down, picked it up, and handed it to Jessie, saying, “Proverbs 16:18.” That was all he said. Proverbs 16:18.
During the quiet time, Jessie looked it up in her Bible. Pride goeth before a fall, she read.
She wanted to cry, sitting there in church, but she waited until she got home.
“And to think I gave Dale Hinshaw a chicken for his Scripture egg project,” Asa fumed. “I’ve half a mind to take that chicken back.”
He stewed about it for several days. Then on Tuesday he drove into town to Dale’s house and knocked on his door.
“Hi, Asa. What brings you here?”
“I’ve come for my chicken.”
“Uh, I thought it was mine to keep. Besides, it’s one of my best layers.”
“You should have thought of that before you insulted my wife.”
“Boy, Fern Hampton was right when she said what she said.”
“What
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