Rita Price wrote the following in a 1995 issue of the Columbus Dispatch:

Katie Fisher, 17, pulled her unruly lamb into the arena of the Madison County Junior Livestock Sale last July. With luck the lamb would fetch some spending money—and she wouldn’t collapse as she had during another livestock show the day before.

Fisher had been battling Burkitt’s lymphoma, a fast-growing malignancy, since February. She had endured many hospitalizations and months of chemotherapy. “Sometimes, in the beginning, it hurt so bad all she could do was pace,” said her 12-year-old sister Jessica.

Selling the lamb did raise pin money for Fisher.

“We sort of let folks know that Katie had a situation that wasn’t too pleasant,” said auctioneer Roger Wilson, who hoped his introduction would push the price-per-pound above the average of $2. It did—and then some.

The lamb sold for $11.50 per pound. Then the buyer gave it back. That started a chain reaction. Families bought it and gave it back; businesses bought it and gave it back.

“The first sale is the only one I remember. After that, I was crying too hard,” said Katies’s mother, Jayne Fisher. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Re-sell! Re-sell!’”

“We sold that lamb 36 times,” said Wilson. And the last buyer gave back the lamb for good. The effort raised more than $16,000, which went into a fund to help pay Katie’s medical expenses.

The story Price tells in her article is a story of the amazing blessings that transpire when people decide to be generous. Jesus says, “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). As we can see, in some situations the blessings are experienced by everyone involved. Buyers, sellers and spectators all received a blessing they will never forget!

Let’s always be looking for opportunities to spread the blessings around!