We were blessed to be able to put food on the table and through used clothing, garage sales and clothes given to us, we were able to clothe our children nicely. Some years were leaner than others, but God always provided.

However, I had never owned a new piece of furniture. Everything was given to us; our living room set we found sitting by the road waiting for the garbage trucks. After we cleaned it up, you would never have known that this was someone else's garbage.

When my daughter Michelle was 16, she was able to get a summer job where I worked. It was at a factory, and the work was hard. This money would help her buy her school clothes and whatever else she needed that we could not afford.

At the end of the summer Michelle announced that she wanted me to take her somewhere since she was not driving yet. She wanted to go to a furniture place! I figured maybe she was going to buy a bedroom set with the money she had saved. Instead, and to my surprise, Michelle said, "Mom, you have never had a new living room suite, and I want to buy you a set with the money that I have saved."

I was so touched and it meant so much to her, that there was no way I could turn her down. So we proudly walked in, and I picked out the most beautiful set that I had ever owned. We had that living room set for many years.

My daughter is all grown now with a house of her own. God has richly blessed Michelle, and I have to believe that some of those blessings have come because she put her needs last so that she could brighten her mother's day many years ago.

The Bible says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). When we sacrifice to give, we become more like God who is the Supreme Giver. We first experience the joy that comes from giving, then the rewards that it brings later in our life when it comes back to us.

My daughter called the other day with the news that her husband bought her a beautiful new couch, and she was able to pick it out! It made me reflect back many years ago when my 16-year-old daughter gave me the same gift. God never forgot either. In the long run, we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7).