The ten dollar challenge
November 27, 2009
photo by photobucket
Just about this time last year my friend Terri took her mother to dinner at their favorite restaurant. Buffet-style Southern cooking in the truest sense, complete with a hunk of fat in the green beans. All you can eat for only ten dollars. A steal. They ate and enjoyed the sort of company that only a mother and daughter can. They talked and laughed and tried to both remember and forget.
Then it happened.
Halfway through her chicken fried steak, Terri happened to look up and find the smile that had been on her mother’s face was gone, replaced by a pained look of perplexity. Her mother had put her knife and fork down to take a sip of tea and had forgotten how to use them. Still unsure but still hungry, she did what seemed most logical—she scooped a handful of fried apples into one hand, a handful of corn pudding into the other, and continued eating.
“It was like having a three-year-old at the table again,” Terri told me.
I suppose that was the case. Alzheimer’s has a way of reducing adults to children in a tortuous rewinding of the mind’s timepiece.
Terri never noticed the man sitting alone in the booth across from them. Never saw him watching as she carefully moved to her mother’s side, cleaned off the apples and the corn, and then proceeded to feed her. She never saw him smile as she and her mother continued right on with their laughter and conversation.
But she did see him rise from his booth and make his way to their table.
“I’ve never seen a daughter so full of patience and a mother so full of love,” he told her. “It’d be an honor if I could pay for your meal.”
He placed a ten dollar bill on the table, smiled, and left.
That small act of kindness and appreciation could have ended there, but it didn’t. Terri and her mother now had ten dollars they didn’t feel they deserved. Using the money to pay for their meal wouldn’t do, then. But what would? After much discussion, they decided to donate the money to the local food bank. Ten dollars bought four canned hams. Four hams for four families who would otherwise go without. And no one should go without, especially during the holidays.
That’s the story of the ten dollar blessing. And it’s gotten me thinking.
I’ve heard tell that life is all about circles, about beginning and ending and beginning again. I think there’s something to that. And not just when it comes to life, but when it comes to what’s been bestowed to us. A stranger in a small-town restaurant felt blessed enough by watching a daughter care for her mother to pay for their meal. That daughter and mother in turn felt blessed enough by him to give the money to those in need. They continued the circle, and by doing so they revealed one of the great truths of existence—
God does not intend for us to be the keepers of our blessings, but mere borrowers of them.
It’s no secret this has been a tough year for most everyone. Money’s tight and jobs are scarce. But even more than that there seems to be a thick fog of cynicism hanging over us. We’re tired. Stressed. Afraid. We’re running low on the essentials—hope and faith and the power of grace.
So this year I’m proposing a return to what Christmas really means—the giving of a gift without the expectation of return. An expression of love and encouragement. A lifting up of the spirit.
Sometimes the best way to pick yourself up is to pick up someone else. And in that light, I’m asking for a favor. I’m asking that you set aside a few dollars and bless someone. It doesn’t have to be ten, doesn’t have to be five. Let it be as much or as little as your situation deems possible. The amount doesn’t matter. It’s what you do with what you have.
photo by photobucket
In the coming weeks katdish and I will set up a blog carnival for you to share what you did, whom you blessed, and how it changed you. And trust me, it will change you.
‘Tis the season for joy and song and laughter. For miracles. And it’s come at just the right time, because there are many who need all four. Yet while we pray for God’s blessing and while we embrace that Christmas magic, let’s not forget that God often gives joy and song and laughter not through the divine intervention, but through the feeble hands of mere mortals like you and me.
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39 Responses to “The ten dollar challenge”
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Okay, I’m in. Now please send me ten dollars so I can get started…
I think I’m in…
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by billycoffey: Be a blessing. Come take the ten dollar challenge ~ http://bit.ly/4ZOpOU…
Great idea! Several years ago the church we attended did this, with $5 per family. They passed the bills out to each family and told them to do what they felt would provide the biggest blessing.
My family ended up buying bibles, with the intention it was the gift that would keep on giving. We ended up doing this for years. When the church would run out of the bibles they gave away, we’d replace them.
It was awesome!
[...] This post was Twitted by BridgetChumbley [...]
and maybe even a miracle.
Me three.
I was a “Terri” on a couple of levels. It’s the least I can do.
Such an awesome idea, bless you.
Hi Bill,
Earlier this morning I posted about the time our youngest daughter, on her own, gave a food basket to a poor family… does that count?
Love this idea … I’m in.
What a good way to be the hands/feet of Jesus on earth during this season.
My Daniel and I were just talking about this concept this morning before rolling out of bed. We saw the movie, The Blind Side, yesterday and if that doesn’t get you started giving I just don’t know what would! We are blessed to be a blessing! I pray our Advent is characterized by this concept.
Write on!
I so undertand your illustration…my grandpa, before he died, was that “kid” at the table…
Last year, a stranger in our little town would wait by the checkout lines and paid for 5 families groceries randomly. No one even knew his name, but the selfless act of giving is still talked about. It is better to “give…”
Thanks for this. I am going to try my hardest to give back.
This is beautiful, Billy. I’m definitely in.
This mother/daughter hit to close to home to be fun … and I know that’s not the point … but, phooey, now I’m crying … the point sounds good however. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
AMEN! This story touched me on so many levels. My best friends mother is speedily declining with Alzheimers. I have tried to listen as she tells similar stories and be there for her as she struggles with the loss of her mother day by day.
My husband and I also believe in giving and continuing to multiply gifts shared with us.
Blessings and prayers,
andrea
Count me in.
There’s a saying attributed to Audrey Hepburn: “Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it’s at the end of your arm. As you get older, remember you have another hand: the first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.”
OK.
Very good, Billy. Sowing and reaping, sowing and reaping… Yep, sounds like a circle! Our blessings didn’t originate with us- every good and perfect gift comes from Him…
And hopefully we’ll hear how those on the receiving end were blessed…!
Awesome, Billy! God has blessed me and my favorite thing is to bless others! I’m in!
Katdish, if you were being serious and you have paypal, send me a twitter DM with your paypal adress and i’ll sponsor you to participate.
Totally jumping in with both feet!
I know I’m late to the party. I’m catching up on blogs that I’ve missed due to some uncool unforseen circumstances. I have skipped over a lot of them, but I’m glad I didn’t skip this one. Thanks for sharing and challenging.
Billy, I remember the ten-dollar blessing a year ago. It’s a lesson that has stuck for a good long while. Can’t wait to hear more about the blog carnival.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, my friend.
A wonderful idea, Billy! I love to do random acts of kindness. I especially like to perform anonymous random acts of kindness. I’ll most definitely be participating. But, if it’s all the same to you, I’ll give God the glory and just keep it between me and Him.
Blessings,
Beth
Hi Billy.
I’ve been away for awhile nice to see you’re still giving.
Making Christmas a way of life.
I’m in…with both feet.
“God does not intend for us to be the keepers of our blessings, but mere borrowers of them”
I cannonballed right in–we shine God’s Truth when we share His love.
Blessings.
Lovely. It’s always more fun to give. Can’t wait to find opportunities and also hear about everyone else’s.
[...] Last Friday I wrote about my friend Terri, her mother, and the blessing they received from a stranger while eating at their favorite restaurant. At the end of that post I proposed a challenge for this Christmas season — take ten dollars and bless someone with it. Let it be a small act with big consequences. Lift a burden or a countenance. Make someone smile. [...]
That’s a powerful story, Billy, and a good reminder of what the holiday season is all about. Thanks for sharing it with us!
[...] BridgetChumbley on December 6, 2009 I’ve been anxious to take the Ten Dollar Challenge ever since my friend Billy Coffey wrote about it. Please take a moment and read about this terrific [...]
Glad to see the return of the 10 dollar blessing challenge. Looking forward to seeing what happens this year.
[...] mentioned the other day about the Ten Dollar Challenge given by my friend and fellow blogger, Billy Coffey. I thought this gesture had covered that [...]
[...] I fell asleep thinking about the $10 Challenge. [...]
[...] Change and the $10 Challenge have had me thinking differently about the way I live out the Advent [...]
All right, you inspired me. But you forgot to mention the Inflation issue.
$10 Challenge: Will They Eat the Bunnies? http://bit.ly/68JbpU
[...] Billy Coffey is doing a “$10 Challenge” with some of his blogging friends and asking that readers do the same: Just keep a $10 bill in your [...]
[...] Short, sweet, and to the point…this post is in response to Billy Coffey’s $10 challenge…join in the [...]