Because the Luke 6:38 thing is so true it's absolutely nuts.

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.
—Jesus (Luke 6:38)

It’s fascinating (to me) to look through years’ worth of posts and reflect on which ones are “popular” and which aren’t so much. I want to be careful not to profane this sacred space with analytics, but it is interesting to figure out what people like the most. Posts on motherhood (and how hard it is) are the favs, hands down. Ones where I admit something embarrassing about myself are a close second. (smile) On the flip side, another clear trend is that posts about giving to the poor usually receive the least Likes. Not pointing fingers or shaming anyone for not clicking the little blue icon at the bottom, just stating a fact. It could be that they are poorly written (a strong possibility), or include too much sentimentality or guilt-mongering. Certainly I’m guilty of all that to a degree.

But here’s the deal: At the risk of sounding like a greedy fool (also a strong possibility), I have to say that Luke 6:38 is just so crazy stinkin’ TRUE. Seriously. It’s nuts. I’ve shared a lot in Faithfully Frugal about downsizing and living on less, etc. etc. But here’s the thing: Jeff and I are constantly amazed because when we had our “big” (to us it was big) salary, we were always tight at the end. Sure, we put a lot in savings, but every month it seemed tight. We now make less than half of that, and I don’t know where the money comes from. At the end of each month I keep looking in my wallet and shaking me head—there’s still more left! Just last month we made a big gift that wasn’t budgeted. I had no idea how we would pay for it, but believed God had said to do it. Then this month as I was paying bills, not only did we have enough to cover everything, but I “forgot” about two checks (big ones!) that I’d forgotten to deposit. Um… What’s the deal, ya’ll?? The week before last I could hardly close the refrigerator we had so much food. Sure, there are some luxuries we’re going without. But none of them are food, clothing or shelter.

The whole pressed-down-shaken-together-running-over-poured-into-your-lap-thing? It’s real.

I’m pretty sure most of you get this. That giving first to God—that whole firstfruits thing—is the path of ridiculous blessing.

But if for some reason you haven’t taken this plunge yet; try it now.

If things are tight, it’s the perfect opportunity to give a little faith-gift that says, “I trust you, God.”

And we have a really cool opportunity to do just that, as part of the For Every Child campaign through World Vision. They have a big hairy audacious goal of raising $500 million dollars by October 2015, and they are well on their way with more than $328 million already raised. You can read more details about the campaign here, and today I thought it’d be fun to do a giveaway in conjunction, because even though you always receive something when you give, I want the fun of being part of the giving-getting equation this time by offering you a free book if you give to For Every Child today.

(Speaking of running-over-poured-into-your-lap, I asked World Vision if I could have a couple copies in order to do a giveaway, and some dear generous soul there sent me 36!)

So here’s the deal: For the first 36 people who give ANY amount to For Every Child today, I will send you a free book—either Unfinished or The Hole In Our Gospel. (If you haven’t read either one, I would suggest starting with THIOG. It should really be read first.) I’m not telling you how much, just give by faith and with joy. So here’s how to get your free book:

1. Give any amount here.
2. On social media: share the For Every Child site or this post, whichever you prefer. (The point is to let people know about the campaign.) » Click here to share this post on Facebook. Click here to share on Twitter.
   
3. Fill out the form below so we can mail you your book!
4. Watch and see how the pressed-down-shaken-together-running-over-poured-into-your-lap-thing happens in your life. It’s nuts.

Thank you so much!

With love,

Kari & Jeff