A “love offering” is a voluntary, heartfelt donation to a church or religious organization for a specific purpose, person, or cause, distinct from a regular tithe. They are often collected to support a visiting minister, help a member in need, or bless a ministry.

Have you been the giver or recipient of a love offering lately? Please allow me to explain! ALSO, feel free to share any experience you have had with love offerings. I have too many to share in this space!

For a long time, it was difficult for me to receive love. As much as I offered love to others, even strangers, I felt undeserving of any love in return, and each time I encountered genuine love, I usually veered away from it. I can see now, in hindsight, that I even sabotaged it to make my point. “See? my actions said, ‘I am not deserving of love. I felt I had not been obedient in many things and that love was one of those things that God might withhold to teach me a lesson. I am thinking right now, “What in the world?” The enemy always suggests to us the silliest things, and we just run with it.

Anyway, it has taken me many years to accept that love runs both ways and that I can have some too!

On this past Saturday, I answered a timid knock on my door, and there was my “one floor above me” neighbor, Olivia. I am a first-floor dweller, but knowing how ill Olivia has been, I was surprised to see her, over eighty years of age, grasping onto the wooden wall railings that help us “mature” people navigate up and down these long hallways. Olivia is from Liberia, and she fixed it in her mind that I was one of the first friendly people she met when she moved here because I worked in the front office. We have exchanged gifts every year since that time on our birthdays and at Christmas. In fact, Olivia’s birthday is on Christmas Day!

My heart did flip-flops as she handed me a pre-birthday present. She was out of breath, leaning on the wall, and I offered to accompany her back to her apartment, though my own breathing and heart rate were not far from hers. She refused my help, so I gave her time to return to her apartment, then called to make sure she was alright. The first photo is my cool stuff from Olivia.

The second photo is what’s left of the grapes another neighbor brought me on the same day. What is special about this offering is that the man who brought them once could not stand me… period! At resident meetings, he saved all of his venom and dislike for anything I said, suggested or brought to the table, and it was not until he volunteered with me as his lead volunteer and three years ago, when he fell from a third floor landing to the first floor lobby where he lost consciousness and even flat lined when the EMT folks got here. He had just been a church attendee, but ever since he came back, he has referred to himself as “God’s walking miracle”.

Since my health challenges, he has brought me inspirational books, food from his church pantry, and now, the grapes and an invitation to join the seniors at his church for dinners and activities. I have accepted. Meeting new seniors is always exciting to me. I know that God has a plan for my recovery, and being around others is just one of them.

Lately, many neighbors have shown up at my door with “love offerings”. and I have wondered what other people do when this happens. Love offerings are not just for church. Love offerings can happen any time, from anyone, and it is simply another way that God shows His love for us!