Unintended Consequences

In 2005 I took a trip to El Salvador just to learn about what Compassion International does for kids in the developing world. I didn’t plan on coming home different. But this morning I’m typing to you from a house a third the size of the one I blogged from five years ago. How’d that happen?

I’ve played with Compassion kids in six countries now: El Salvador, Ethiopia, Uganda, Dominican Republic, India, El Salvador again and Kenya. And every time I get home there are unexpected consequences – not as dramatic as after that first trip but small changes of heart, mind and budget that add up. Literally.

Becky finished our taxes last night and only then did we realize just how big these small changes have turned out to be. We accidentally gave away over half our income last year. What??

I say “accidentally” because it’s not like we had a goal in mind you know? And I never would have set such a ridiculous impossible goal. We just very very slowly changed, lived a tiny bit more simply, and then a tiny bit more, and a little more. And along the way we gave when we saw somebody or something that needed help – if we had it to give. And, well, wow!

Unintended consequences. Unexpected goodness.

God did this! With some assistance from my savvy former-accountant wife and her mad ten-key skillz.

What unintended consequences have you seen? What incredible unexpected things has God done in you? After that mission trip? Or reading that book? Following Compassion’s bloggers? Or being one of them? How has God changed and surprised you?

Write a post about the unintended consequences you’ve experienced and share it with us by putting your name and the URL of that post in the box below.

If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment!

Looking forward to reading all the stories of God’s unexpected work in our lives.