The Jacket off his back

Last week I got to take G-ma D. to the eye doctor in New Westminster. She had one appointment in the morning and one in the afternoon. We spent most of the morning wandering around, drinking our Starbucks and then stopped at McDonalds for lunch.
During lunch, there was a man next to us that seemed to be talking quite a bit. Grandma asked me if he was talking to himself. I told her, "No. He's talking to the man behind me." She laughed and then told me that she couldn't see him since I blocked her view. So, in my regular silly fashion, I bent over to and fro and then turned around and said, "See Grandma, there's a guy here."
Then I noticed his jacket. It was nice and I thought it would look nice on my husband and I wanted to find out where he bought it. I complemented the man (I like complimenting older gentlemen. I think that they think that they are fashionable when a young lady says that she likes their clothes. I usually do like their clothes, since Dan looks good in old man fashions.) The man and I chatted a few minutes about where he got his jacket (a thrift store) and how disappointed I was that it wasn't in a store (cuz i can't buy one for Dan) before i turned back to Grandma.
A few moments later, he stood next to us. He asked me, "How big is your husband?" I was a little shocked. He rephrased his question, "Do you think that this jacket would fit him? Cuz he can have it." I told him that my husband has broader shoulders and longer arms, but thanks for the generosity. He insisted that my husband may have the jacket. I refused, grateful and shocked by his insistent generosity. Then he surprised me some more. He asked, if the jacket would fit me and if I would like it. I gratefully refused stating my monkey arms wouldn't fit.
The conversation continued and I got the feeling that this man was a Christian trying to live out the Christian love. My suspicion was confirmed when at the end he gave us tracts (I guess our agreeing with church and everything else wasn't enough to confirm our own faith..or maybe he just likes tracts.)

I found it utterly refreshing to meet a complete stranger who was willing to give the jacket off his back to two woman whom he just met. He expressed his gratefulness for the opportunity to meet us, saying that it was a divine intervention and that God had placed many things together so that we would meet that day. I had to agree. It was a pleasant conversation, that reminded me of Christ's call for generosity.

It got me thinking. Would I be willing to give the jacket off my back? Or more than that? Dan and I try our best (although we often fail) to live a life filled with generosity. We love to give to others, especially food since we have both been gifted in that area. (Tomatoes or Rhubarb anyone?) We have realized that everything we "own" is God's and should be used to glorify him. It is not really ours and rather it should be shared. We are really good at this with our friends, but are we good at sharing when it comes to strangers? Would we extend that same generosity to someone we've just met? I hope so. Its a constant reminder to me that we need to share and be generous.

As my nephew said (he was 4 at the time), when I received chocolate for my birthday, "You have to share. Jesus likes it when we share." What do you say to that? Needless to say, sharing does make Jesus happy. And it makes me happy too.