The More

                                                           Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                           everyday is a journey.


O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

--George Matheson.

I looked out the kitchen window and there was my downstairs neighbor filling up her car with antifreeze. There wasn't much in it, she kept tapping the container for every drop to come out. Recently, she had a real bad accident. Her passenger front end was squashed like an accordion ribbon. I knew from past experience her car was leaking fluids. After a bad crash like that one, things get loosened under that hood. The car starts to break down, bit by bit. 

I went outside, opened my trunk and pulled out two containers of antifreeze to hand over to her. I didn't need them anymore. I have been blessed with a good car that I regularly take care of and maintain. My fluids are filled every three months when I get an oil change. 

She gladly took them. Then she asked me if I could help her out with this and with that. This wasn't the first time that Emily and I have come to help our neighbors or friends. Nor will it be the last. This blog isn't about bragging rights to generosity. She did however catch me off guard, because I certainly wasn't expecting the this and the that. Somehow, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. 

At supper that night, I told Emily about the experience and she says to me: And then she wanted more. Yeah, she wanted more. 

You know, we are taught as Christians to help others in need and to do it willingly. Which we do, but there are people who always want more. You know that saying, "Give them an inch, they want a whole yard." It's the absolute truth. Refuse and you are likely to be labelled a bad Christian. Or worse, I thought she was a Christian. 

The truth is that God never intended us to be doormats. He really doesn't want us to be taken advantage of by others. A person can only turn the other cheek for so long and then it's time to turn away. The same thing for generosity. Some people will always want more. A twenty becomes forty. A thumb becomes a whole hand. So when does the giving stop?

Finding a balance between being a generous and loving neighbor versus a doormat, can be challenging. In the past, I would have given in each and every time regardless if it was  an imposition on me or not. I always thought I could not refuse being generous. It's different now. If something doesn't feel good, there is a little uncertainty about it, I don't do it. I politely refuse. So I'm sorry, but sometimes I have to say no to the more.

Have a blessed day everyone.