How to Live with a Spirit of Abundance

There is no life worth living without generosity because generosity is a function of abundance mentality. ~Ann Voskamp

Have you ever played balloon stomp? Each person has a balloon tied to his or her leg. The object is to pop everyone else’s balloon while keeping your own intact. The last person with a balloon wins.

I first heard of balloon stomp during a sermon. The pastor shared a story about two different classes who played the game. The first group was a class of fourth graders. I can imagine the scene, can’t you? Some competitive students jumped in with vigor and popped as many balloons as possible. I can almost hear the rapid popping. The game ended in a matter of minutes. A few students probably felt disappointment, a couple probably felt relief that it was over, and one was surely excited to be the champion.

The second group was a class of mentally handicapped students. The game progressed very differently.  The students understood that the balloons needed to be popped. But unlike the first group, the second group didn’t respond competitively. Instead, these students helped each other. Some knelt down to hold a balloon in place so its owner could stomp on it. With each pop, the students clapped and cheered. I can almost hear the joyful applause and giggles. In this class, everyone won.

I realize the first class followed directions and understood the point of the game. I think, though, that the second group had the better idea.

This story keeps coming back to me like a sacred echo.

What strikes me about the two groups is how closely they represent our lives. We live in the world of the fourth grade class. The focus is frequently getting ahead, often at the expense of loving and serving others. In order to win, we must protect our resources, which may include things like position, time, talent, money, calling, or even our newsfeeds.  It’s a scarcity mentality. We all feel it at times, but I’m not sure we realize that the mouth of the river of scarcity is a lie. Fear drives the current of our behavior and the choices we make in this world.  It will carry us downstream to competition and comparison. Both rob us of generosity and joy.

Scarcity is not new. In the parable of the talents, for example, the person entrusted with one talent hid it (see Matt. 25:14-30). He imagined God as a harsh taskmaster and buried his talent out of fear. Conversely, the person given ten talents invested it and doubled the resource. His trust led to joy and abundance.

We are in the world of the fourth-grade class, but we are called to live like the group of handicapped students. They demonstrated an abundance mentality. Their posture was not stomping but kneeling. Their focus wasn’t self-protection but cooperation. Generosity and joy erupted in their classroom.

Celebration occurs when we realize God gives us more than enough. The mindset of abundance is not fear-driven, but trust-driven. Faith-driven.

Terri Fullerton is a wife, empty-nest mom, and mentor who loves stories of redemption and things that are funny. She is currently working on her first book. Terri longs to encourage others to find hope and freedom through her writing about faith, family, hiking, and mental health at Conversations at the Table.

Photograph © Sofiya Levchenko, used with permission