Occasionally, we receive a gift that we never expected. In fact, it’s the unexpected gift that’s often such a genuine blessing to us.
Occasionally, gifts to us from others are totally unexpected. And, at the same time, the gift is wonderful indeed. It’s an act of kindness from one person to another.
In my former life I was a business school dean at a state university. In that role I met many of our alumni and others who were friends of the university. As expected, my role as dean involved both relationship building and fund raising.
People who have faith in God should display mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience with each other. Colossians 3.12 (paraphrased) proverbsforprofessionals.net
Student Scholarships
As it turned out, a sizeable portion of the gifts I brought in as dean were in the form of endowed scholarships. In short, that means the funds are in an account that exists in perpetuity.
Specifically, the earnings from the funds in the scholarship help defer student expenses for attending the university.
Therefore, scholarship donors are making a significant investment into the lives of students. And the donors may never meet the students. More critically, donors are making an investment that’s continual. As such, it reaches into the lives of future generations of students.
Those scholarship donors are helping improve college affordability for future generations of students! Certainly, you’ll agree that’s a good thing!
Scholarships can be structured in a variety of ways. Often, they are based on academic performance. Other scholarships target specific majors. Often, the scholarship is based on the student’s financial need.
There’s always a personal story behind each scholarship. There’s meaning for the donor. For example, while I was dean my wife and I endowed a needs-based scholarship in memory of a grandchild.
Proverbs 10.5 observes that a wise son participates in the harvest. That is, it’s wise to recognize and act on opportunities when they arise. Our generosity most certainly falls into this category of seeing, then acting on opportunities. proverbsforprofessionals.net
The Unexpected Gift
One of the donors I worked with was a graduate of our university. She had gone on to become a college professor herself. The donor and her husband were gracious hosts when my wife and I visited them.
She and her husband, both retired, had previously endowed two scholarships in our business school. They remained engaged with our students by supporting various activities throughout the academic year.
About two years after I retired, I was contacted by one of the university’s Development Officers. We worked together while I was dean. He informed me that the couple had endowed a new scholarship. I was one of the two individuals who was honored by the named scholarship.
Truly, this was an unexpected gift. It’s certainly an honor to be recognized in this way. More importantly, it’s heartening to be honored in a way that’s so close to my heart – student scholarships. Most certainly, I never asked them to consider a naming gift in my honor.
The gift is an indication of both the generosity and the graciousness of this family. They understand the precept of giving and receiving. In this case, beyond the students who will benefit, I’m the recipient of their generosity.
Proverbs 13.7 teaches that we can make ourselves rich yet have nothing. Conversely, we can make ourselves poor yet have great wealth. The verse speaks to the blessings that come back to us, in various ways, as the result of our generosity. proverbsforprofessionals.net
Some Takeaways
Certainly, we all enjoy the unexpected gift from time to time. In one sense, that gift is an indication of the influence we’ve had on someone else. It’s an act of kindness to us.
Meaningful kindness doesn’t have to come directly to us. Instead, as in the case described here, that kindness is a gift received by someone else.
People show kindness, at times in the form of a gift, because they recognize the incredible value of giving to others. They give out of a kind heart with no expectation of getting back.
