Very Special Quarters

If you noticed in the above picture, you will see six quarters. These are six very special quarters. They came from two different sources. The first three coins were given to me by Miss Sarah who is a permanent resident of the nursing home/rehab center I serve on Wednesday afternoons. She gave them to me as a gift to the church and to use it anyway I wanted. What made her 75 cent gift such a blessing is that she gave out her meager monthly allowance. After her government check pays for her living expenses, she is left with about $15.00 which means she gave 5 percent of her allowance to my church. How many of us are willing to give 5 percent of our total monthly income to a church let alone feed someone around the world we don't even know? (yes, I am a pastor and know we are all called to tithe 10 percent but with the way the economy is, any extra giving can be a stretch for many people).
        The other three quarters are very special to me too. When I officially announce my participation in my Lenten fast for Stop Hunger Now to my congregation, I also extended an invitationin the children's sermon to the children of our church to particiapte by collecting quarters in order to provide meals to the hungry children and adults around the world. Our church is making this a mission projecct for the kids and if they raise $400. then the church will have a partyof some sort in their honor for reaching their goal. After the worship service was over later, one of the children came up to me by himself and offered the quarters to me then. When I told him he could bring them back next week for the offering, he said he wanted to do it now not later. How I could refuse that offer?
         Six ordinary quarters; that's what they may look like to may people but to me they hold a very special lesson on giving when most people won't or can't. Thanks to Miss Sarah and one of my church's children, these six quarters will provide a meal to six hungry people somewhere in the 72 countries Stop Hunger Now (http://www.stophungernow.com/ ) serves around the world. Would you like to join me in supporting this wonderful organization? If so, please make tax deductible check out to Stop Hunger Now and mail it to me at Mount Gilead UMC, P.O. Box 72113, Newnan, GA 30271-2113. If you have any questions about this, you can also reach me at preacherdanumc@yahoo.com .
        Thank you for your time and prayers...