I stumbled upon a video on Facebook Sunday morning from a church in Los Angeles where an impromptu miracle unfolded in the middle of the sermon. The pastor, to make a point that each of us can be the instrument of blessing in someone’s life, gave a woman in the choir some money. He nonchalantly asked, “Gloria, is that enough?” She looked at the money and said, “No, actually it’s not.” The pastor was a little taken aback – he didn’t realize that she actually had a monetary need. He reached into his wallet to give her more money, which she said was enough to cover her need. But that’s not where the illustration ended. The congregation wanted to be part of the miracle as well and began jumping out of their seats and running (literally) to the stage to give Gloria money. It was an outpouring of blessing in this woman’s life at a point that she needed it most.

I don’t think it’s a mistake that I saw the video on the day I did. My church, Eastridge Church, is hosting its annual conference this week about expanding our vision and faith, and seeing this video reminded me of my desire for more, both in my life personally and how my life impacts those around me.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen a video like the outpouring for Gloria. Four years ago a similar offering happened at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. The pastor of this sister church of mine was retelling of a miraculous offering of more than $1 million that Eastridge collected for our building project. Spontaneously, their members began bringing forward money to be sent to Eastridge. Thousands of dollars. The people wanted to be part of the blessing happening across the country. It was a love offering like I had never seen and it struck a cord within me that I wanted to be generous like that. I wanted to recognize an opportunity to bless and take it. To be part of something bigger and make an eternal impact in ways I couldn’t track.

Our Vision and Faith Conference culminates with a love offering next Sunday to fuel the ministry of Eastridge. I had already been thinking about this offering prior to watching the Los Angeles video and thinking about what I would bring. In my heart I want to bring something big, something outlandish, something sacrificial. My heart is over full and I want to express this to God through my gift.

While I still don’t know what I’ll bring, I know what I want my heart to look like: generous, giving, open, compelled, driven, drawn. This is how I want to be described every day of my life. I want to be known as a generous woman of God. Always giving to others – time, talent, money, words of encouragement, a smile and warm attitude, love. What this means for this week, I’m still unsure. What this means for my future, I’m sure.