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. In that role I met many of our alumni and others who were friends of the university. As expected, my role involved 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
Now, a sizeable portion of the gifts I brought in were 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. 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 improve college affordability for future generations! Certainly, you’ll agree that’s a good thing!
Scholarships can be structured in a variety of ways. Some are based on academic performance. Others target specific majors. Often, the scholarship is based on financial need.
There’s always a personal story behind each scholarship. For example, my wife and I endowed a needs-based scholarship in memory of a grandchild.
Proverbs 10.5 observes that a wise son works during the harvest. Thus, it’s wise to see and act on opportunities when they arise. Our generosity most certainly falls into the category of seeing and acting on opportunity. proverbsforprofessionals.net
A Most Unexpected Gift
One of the donors I worked with was a graduate of our university. She had become a college professor. The donor and her husband were gracious hosts when I visited them.
She and her husband, both retired, had previously endowed two scholarships. They remained engaged with our students by supporting various activities throughout the academic year.
About two years after I retired, I learned 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 a most unexpected gift. It’s certainly an honor to be recognized in this way. More importantly, it’s heartening to be honored in this way – 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 says we can make ourselves rich yet have nothing. Conversely, we can make ourselves poor yet have great wealth. It speaks to the blessings that come back to us by our generosity. proverbsforprofessionals.net
Some Takeaways
Certainly, we all enjoy a most 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.
A longer version of this post appeared as an earlier blog post.