What If??

Since the State of Oklahoma instituted a lottery, I have heard the reports of this or that person winning a large jackpot.  Of course, we all take note when it is a story from somewhere of a person who wins millions from a random numerical drawing.  If you are like me, it is easy to play a relatively harmless mental game called “What if?”

This game involves imagining what one might do if somehow we were the lucky winner of a huge lottery.  This is not a great danger in my case, for as my daughter-in-law points out to me, you have to actually buy a lottery ticket to win.  However, this trivial fact does not diminish the fun of the game.  

One of my favorite scenarios is that I would establish a foundation that would fund grants to families who earnestly desire to adopt babies from India.  I admit complete bias here as my oldest granddaughter if from Calcutta and is an amazing treasure.  Simply ask me and I will show you several pictures.  In any case, there are many children there and too few adoptive families.  Part of the reason is that it is expensive to adopt.  Typically, it will cost twenty to thirty thousand dollars to bring a child to your home.  I envision in my game a foundation that would aid qualified families with financial assistance to fund the necessary bureaucratic costs that would help them to adopt.  

In my imaginary world, I would do all of these great things, but since I have never purchased a lottery ticket, it is only a fancy.  Yet, wait does it not suggest an alternative?  I do not have millions, but what might I do with what I have.  Are there ways for me to make a great difference with much smaller resources?  

 We know the answer.  As the old hymn states it, “Little is much when God is in it.”  The disciples who brought a simple lunch of bread and fish to Jesus discovered that it could be multiplied into something amazing.  All over our country, people discover the power of the small gift.  We give what we can; not millions, but together they accumulate into a powerful tool to accomplish something great. 

 I hope the next time we have the opportunity to give, we will not stop short simply because we perceive that we do not have a jackpot to draw from, but will place our small gift with the many others to accomplish much good.