
“Cheerful Giver”
or
Scrooge buys his wife a ring.
or
Scrooge buys his wife a ring.
II Corinthians 9:7 "God loveth a cheerful giver”
True Story
Nancy and I were visiting a friend’s house, and his wife was showing my wife the new ring her husband had bought her. My wife said to me, “Isn’t it pretty?”
I was stingy with “my” money and wasn’t interested. I replied, “Yeah, it’s okay,” and I thought that would be the last of it. A few days later we were in a mall, and I couldn't find my wife. I looked around and saw her in one of those corner jewelries shops. (the corner shops in malls cost the most to rent, and those who sell jewelry are usually there.) Now, I don’t need to tell you it got my attention to see my wife in that jewelry store.
I walked right up to her and said, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she replied, “I was just looking at this ring. Isn’t it pretty?”
I was supposed to say, “Oh yeah, that’s beautiful,” but of course I didn’t.
She was looking through the glass at this little ruby ring, and I was looking through the glass at the little price tag next to the ring. It’s disgusting how much they want for those little stones! For the same amount of money, I could have bought four new tires for my car. Have you ever thought about the fact that rings don’t do anything? I understand a wedding ring—at least it serves the purpose of telling others you’re married—but every other ring just sits there on your wife’s finger, doing nothing.
“You want to buy that?” I said, rather loudly.
“No, I just thought it was pretty.” And she added, “I don’t need to buy it, or anything.”
“Good. Let’s go!”
I got out of there as quickly as I could. I wanted to put some distance between me and that ring. But my wife was not in such a hurry. She was about ten paces behind me, and she was moping. When I saw how dejected she looked, I thought, “I’ve got to buy her a stupid ring. She won’t be happy unless I buy her a ring.” I spent the next two weeks coming up with some extra money so I could buy her a ring. Oh, I bought it at a pawnshop...
I thought, “Okay, I’m going to get her the ring, but she is going to know how I feel about it!” Did you ever receive something you wanted, but you did not like how it was given to you? Well, that’s what happened to Nancy. I came home one evening and she was all sweet, because she knew from the tone of my voice I was not happy. I feel guilty telling you this story, but, well, here is what happened.
I hollered from the front door, “Hey, I’m home. Remember the ring you wanted? Well, here it is.” I actually dropped it on the table… She ended up wearing it just to keep peace in the house. The point is, I gave, but not the right way.
Thankfully, I have learned some things. The reason a wife looks at the ring that “sits” on her finger is not to count the monetary value of it, but because it represents a token of her husband’s love. But every time Nancy looked at that ring I’m afraid, she would have remembered me bouncing it off the table.
I’m sorry to say, a few years passed before I realized what I had done. It was while I was alone driving my car that God spoke to my heart by a message I heard on a cassette tape someone had given me. The entire message was about a preacher buying his wife a ring, and it was forty-five minutes long! I was convicted by it, and I wanted to turn it off, but I thought, “This message doesn’t bother me.” I must have been driving slowly, because cars were swerving around me, and a couple of drivers honked their horns at me.
The preacher went into detail about buying his wife a ring. He talked about how he finally found the right stone, but he thought the ring was wrong, so he actually asked the jeweler if he would take the stone off the ring, and he was even willing to pay him the full price to get it done! I was listening to this and thinking, “Just buy her a ring and get it over with!” This preacher then drove to another state where he remembered seeing a ring he liked.
When the preacher showed the jeweler the stone he had bought in the other state, he asked, “Don’t you think this beautiful stone I have would look good on that great ring your store has?” And he asked, “Would you be willing to place my stone on that ring?” The jeweler said, “No.“
But the pastor said, “I will pay the full price.” The jeweler said, “Ok.” And added, “She must be some special lady.”
“Yes, she is,” the preacher said. “And I wanted it to be special, because she will wear it the rest of her life.”
That’s when I said, out loud, “I’m sorry.” I was alone in my car, just me, the cassette, and the Lord, Who was convicting me.
I spent the next six weeks looking for a new ring for my wife, and I hate shopping. My idea of a “good time” of shopping is to see how fast I can find what I want and get out. “Find it, buy it, bag it, and leave.” But now I was actually enjoying searching for just the right ring for Nancy. I found what I wanted in five weeks, but I waited another week to give it to her because our anniversary was coming up. It was all I could do to wait that last week. I had a store wrap it up and put a nice big ribbon on it. The ring had six little rubies on it as God gave us six children.
Attitude made the difference!
A week before our anniversary, Nancy had pointed to the calendar and said, “Oh, look, next week is our anniversary.”
“Hum, how about that,” I said. She didn’t want me to forget, of course, but I thought, “She won’t be expecting what I bought her.”
When our anniversary came, she said she wanted to go out for Mexican food, so I took her to Taco Bell. Someone said to me, “You took your wife to Taco Bell on your anniversary?!” So what, their food is just as good! Anyway, I sat down at our table at the “restaurant” before she did, and I placed the gift on the table across from me. When she saw the gift, she said, “This is for me?”
“Yes!” I’m smiling, I’m happy, and she was smiling, not knowing what to expect.
Looking at the wrapped gift she said, “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
“Uh-huh …” I said. (^;
When she unwrapped the gift and looked at the ring, she first said, “Wow!” But she kept looking at the ring, and then she looked at me, and her expression and voice changed to a more serious one, and she asked, “Is this real?”
“Yes!” I said laughing. It’s strange but giving her that ring made me appreciate her more. The Bible says, “For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”
She then stood up right in front of everybody at Taco Bell and reached across the table, and pulled my face toward her, and started kissing me all over my face—with everybody watching! I guess I should take back what I said about those rings not doing anything.
God and my wife both “love a cheerful giver.” In whatever we give to God, and truly he wants us to give, but he wants us to do it cheerfully.
True Story
Nancy and I were visiting a friend’s house, and his wife was showing my wife the new ring her husband had bought her. My wife said to me, “Isn’t it pretty?”
I was stingy with “my” money and wasn’t interested. I replied, “Yeah, it’s okay,” and I thought that would be the last of it. A few days later we were in a mall, and I couldn't find my wife. I looked around and saw her in one of those corner jewelries shops. (the corner shops in malls cost the most to rent, and those who sell jewelry are usually there.) Now, I don’t need to tell you it got my attention to see my wife in that jewelry store.
I walked right up to her and said, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she replied, “I was just looking at this ring. Isn’t it pretty?”
I was supposed to say, “Oh yeah, that’s beautiful,” but of course I didn’t.
She was looking through the glass at this little ruby ring, and I was looking through the glass at the little price tag next to the ring. It’s disgusting how much they want for those little stones! For the same amount of money, I could have bought four new tires for my car. Have you ever thought about the fact that rings don’t do anything? I understand a wedding ring—at least it serves the purpose of telling others you’re married—but every other ring just sits there on your wife’s finger, doing nothing.
“You want to buy that?” I said, rather loudly.
“No, I just thought it was pretty.” And she added, “I don’t need to buy it, or anything.”
“Good. Let’s go!”
I got out of there as quickly as I could. I wanted to put some distance between me and that ring. But my wife was not in such a hurry. She was about ten paces behind me, and she was moping. When I saw how dejected she looked, I thought, “I’ve got to buy her a stupid ring. She won’t be happy unless I buy her a ring.” I spent the next two weeks coming up with some extra money so I could buy her a ring. Oh, I bought it at a pawnshop...
I thought, “Okay, I’m going to get her the ring, but she is going to know how I feel about it!” Did you ever receive something you wanted, but you did not like how it was given to you? Well, that’s what happened to Nancy. I came home one evening and she was all sweet, because she knew from the tone of my voice I was not happy. I feel guilty telling you this story, but, well, here is what happened.
I hollered from the front door, “Hey, I’m home. Remember the ring you wanted? Well, here it is.” I actually dropped it on the table… She ended up wearing it just to keep peace in the house. The point is, I gave, but not the right way.
Thankfully, I have learned some things. The reason a wife looks at the ring that “sits” on her finger is not to count the monetary value of it, but because it represents a token of her husband’s love. But every time Nancy looked at that ring I’m afraid, she would have remembered me bouncing it off the table.
I’m sorry to say, a few years passed before I realized what I had done. It was while I was alone driving my car that God spoke to my heart by a message I heard on a cassette tape someone had given me. The entire message was about a preacher buying his wife a ring, and it was forty-five minutes long! I was convicted by it, and I wanted to turn it off, but I thought, “This message doesn’t bother me.” I must have been driving slowly, because cars were swerving around me, and a couple of drivers honked their horns at me.
The preacher went into detail about buying his wife a ring. He talked about how he finally found the right stone, but he thought the ring was wrong, so he actually asked the jeweler if he would take the stone off the ring, and he was even willing to pay him the full price to get it done! I was listening to this and thinking, “Just buy her a ring and get it over with!” This preacher then drove to another state where he remembered seeing a ring he liked.
When the preacher showed the jeweler the stone he had bought in the other state, he asked, “Don’t you think this beautiful stone I have would look good on that great ring your store has?” And he asked, “Would you be willing to place my stone on that ring?” The jeweler said, “No.“
But the pastor said, “I will pay the full price.” The jeweler said, “Ok.” And added, “She must be some special lady.”
“Yes, she is,” the preacher said. “And I wanted it to be special, because she will wear it the rest of her life.”
That’s when I said, out loud, “I’m sorry.” I was alone in my car, just me, the cassette, and the Lord, Who was convicting me.
I spent the next six weeks looking for a new ring for my wife, and I hate shopping. My idea of a “good time” of shopping is to see how fast I can find what I want and get out. “Find it, buy it, bag it, and leave.” But now I was actually enjoying searching for just the right ring for Nancy. I found what I wanted in five weeks, but I waited another week to give it to her because our anniversary was coming up. It was all I could do to wait that last week. I had a store wrap it up and put a nice big ribbon on it. The ring had six little rubies on it as God gave us six children.
Attitude made the difference!
A week before our anniversary, Nancy had pointed to the calendar and said, “Oh, look, next week is our anniversary.”
“Hum, how about that,” I said. She didn’t want me to forget, of course, but I thought, “She won’t be expecting what I bought her.”
When our anniversary came, she said she wanted to go out for Mexican food, so I took her to Taco Bell. Someone said to me, “You took your wife to Taco Bell on your anniversary?!” So what, their food is just as good! Anyway, I sat down at our table at the “restaurant” before she did, and I placed the gift on the table across from me. When she saw the gift, she said, “This is for me?”
“Yes!” I’m smiling, I’m happy, and she was smiling, not knowing what to expect.
Looking at the wrapped gift she said, “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
“Uh-huh …” I said. (^;
When she unwrapped the gift and looked at the ring, she first said, “Wow!” But she kept looking at the ring, and then she looked at me, and her expression and voice changed to a more serious one, and she asked, “Is this real?”
“Yes!” I said laughing. It’s strange but giving her that ring made me appreciate her more. The Bible says, “For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”
She then stood up right in front of everybody at Taco Bell and reached across the table, and pulled my face toward her, and started kissing me all over my face—with everybody watching! I guess I should take back what I said about those rings not doing anything.
God and my wife both “love a cheerful giver.” In whatever we give to God, and truly he wants us to give, but he wants us to do it cheerfully.
Please read our other short stories at the top of the page
and pray for this website to be used of God and to help Christians!
and pray for this website to be used of God and to help Christians!