My grandmother, the daughter of a sheikh in Iraq, owned a large share of land that was given to her family to grow wheat. During the difficult time of economic sanctions imposed on the country in the 90’s, incomes were declining, and everyone started selling everything in order to survive.
Despite the hard times my grandmother faced, she kept on caring for others. She was always kind and generous, and if guests arrived at the house, she would cook all the food she had and serve it to them. She never thought about the next day and whether she would have food for herself or not. When someone needed help, she would simply give whatever she had.
Over time, she had to sell most of the land she owned, until finally she only had a small part left, worth around $300. After selling that last piece of land, she called and asked me to invest $200 in some kind of small business venture, which might generate some income to help support her.
I told her, “Grandmother, this is a very small amount of money, and it will not be easy to find a business to profitably invest such a small sum.”
“Please, look for any business to invest in,” she said, “and in the meantime I will live on the remaining $100.”
I was young, and just starting in the trading business. I had just designed four plastic molds, which cost $200 each. I asked her, “Grandmother, which one of these molds would you like?”
She chose one of them. Incredulously, the mold she chose was the best and easiest to work with, and the one that brought in the most income. The profits soon reached around $200 per month. At that time in Iraq, $200 was a very large amount of money. The salary of a medical doctor was about $6 a month, for example, so you can imagine the value of $200.
When I gave her the monthly profit of the mold, she thought I was giving her help from my own pocket. I explained to her that I was also taking my share of profit, and said, “Grandmother, this is from God to you, and 100% from the profit of your mold.”
The mold kept working well and providing for my grandmother for about 4 or 5 years, until my grandmother passed away.
Amazingly, shortly after she died, the mold lost its usefulness and the profit went sharply down. God used that mold and provided through it just for the time she needed it. I believe it was because of her generous heart, and because she always shared what she had with others.