His collar was pulled high against the cold, but her eyes went to his hands holding the sign. At his feet was a small white plastic bucket. The light changed to green, and as she turned into the lot she came alongside a narrow median strip and noticed a man holding a crudely made hand-lettered cardboard sign: HOMELESS. “I think I was born with cold fingers,” she muttered. In the few minutes it had taken her to get from her bookstore to the grocery store, her fingers had started to ache from the cold.

Just one quick stop at the grocery store and she’d be on the way home to cuddle up with her new book in front of a warm fire.Īs she waited at the traffic light to turn into the grocery store lot, she took off one glove to feel if the air blasting out of the heat vents was starting to warm. Kate stepped out of her bookstore at the end of a long, tiring day, locked the door behind her, pulled her scarf up over her nose and mouth to shield her lungs from the bitter cold air, and rushed across the lot to her car. One Simple Act One Fleas, Footsteps, and Checkout Lanes The Springboard of Gratitude When we do so with an eager sense of expectancy, lives-including our own-are changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Macomber, through her masterful power of storytelling, calls us to live with an open heart, offering who we are and what we have to God, to use in the lives of others. This moving blend of true stories and motivating messages delights and surprises us as we see for ourselves that giving the gifts of time, encouragement, hope, laughter, prayer, hospitality, service, and forgiveness often have a life-changing impact, not only on the recipient of such gifts, but on the giver as well. Just as a young boy volunteered his fishes and loaves to Jesus in Galilee and saw his meager gift multiplied many times over to feed five thousand, we can live open-handed and stand amazed at what God accomplishes through simple acts of generosity. Lives can be changed in ways we never envisioned. In a world that seems too often reticent and begrudging, Debbie has learned firsthand that living in a spirit of generosity yields unforeseen miracles.

Master storyteller Debbie Macomber knows a secret. Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber shares inspirational and empowering true stories of what happens when we commit intentional acts of generosity.

A Man's Heart by Debbie Macomber