Amy Grant on Generosity: ‘You Become Something Bigger Than Yourself’
By Movieguide® Contributor
For veteran CCM artist Amy Grant, Thanksgiving brings back fond memories shared with family and the values of giving and gratitude that were instilled in her at a young age.
“I can remember being a teenager and appreciating the good meal, but mostly wanting to eat and run to go be with my friends,” Grant recalled in a Guideposts essay. “I see that same look in some of the kids’ eyes now, but not mine. I’m right where I want to be…sharing these moments and remembering years past.”
One of her fondest memories was her father bringing the family together to pray before the meal.
“Before we began filling our plates, all of us gathered in one room and held hands in an extended circle. Then, before he led us in a prayer, he always said a few words to the family about the importance of Thanksgiving,” Grant said.
Grant remembers that growing up, her parents always made it a point to go to church every Sunday, even on vacation. One family trip that she took to Sarasota, Florida, stands out in Grant’s mind.
She had her heart set on buying the popular Sea-Monkeys at a five-and-dime.
But the then nine-year-old faced a dilemma that Sunday at church as the offering plate was coming around. She had only four quarters.
“Even as a child, I had been taught to give back to God. It only made sense, since everything we had was a gift from him anyway. That was just a natural cycle of receiving—giving back,” she said.
“That would drastically alter my vacation budget. I might not have enough money to buy the Sea-Monkeys. The plate got to me. I dug down, fished out twenty-five cents and dropped it in. Tough decision, but it felt right,” Grant recalled.
The “Lead Me On” singer learned about God’s provision even in small things when, later that day, she found a shiny quarter at the bottom of a pool, allowing her to buy the toy.
“Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t come away from the deep end of the pool with the idea that every time you give something away, God’s supposed to give it right back to you,” Grant wrote.
She added, “But somehow, finding that quarter the way I did, I was reminded that giving and receiving are somehow connected.”
She still carries the lessons she learned about giving as a child with her today. She recalled one Thanksgiving when she was expecting a larger gathering at her home than usual, and she and her husband Vince Gill took on the task of mashing potatoes for 75 people.
“Have you ever washed, peeled, cooked and mashed 40 pounds of potatoes? By 3:00 a.m., Vince and I were tired and delirious,” Grant said.
With enough mashed potatoes leftovers to “spackle an entire wall,” they gave the rest to the Nashville Mission.
“I hoped that somebody down there had a big appetite for potatoes. I guess I’ll never know, but it did feel good to share the bounty of our table with other people in our town who needed it,” she said.
“I think that sometimes we can over-think giving. It should be as natural as breathing. You have. You give. You receive. You share,” Grant said.
She went on to say, “When you give something, you become a part of something bigger than yourself. And both the person who’s giving and the person who’s receiving feel equally blessed. That’s a beautiful cycle if you ask me. One that’s worth celebrating all year.”
The six-time Grammy winner will be grateful this Thanksgiving for health after being hospitalized due to a bike accident last year and having a surprise open-heart surgery a couple years prior to that. The health scares have caused her to see things “through a different lens.”
“And in the short run, what I saw was I had the chance to invest in a new way with my adult children,” Grant told Lee C. Camp on the “No Small Endeavor” podcast.
The 62-year-old added, “I just feel so much gratitude for right now all the possibility of right now. And it makes everything more precious because, for the first time in my life, I have felt very aware that the resources of time, talent, treasure, ability, all those things, our resources are limited. And so what we do matters and we can’t do everything.”
Movieguide® previously reported on her recovery process after her accident:
“Last week was my first time back on stage, and I can’t think of a more gentle way to get back into the limelight than doing a Christmas concert with my dear friend Michael W. Smith,” Grant shared.
She continued, “I was nervous that first day. I forgot lyrics to songs that I wrote. I’m just on a healing journey, but this time here. You know, love and kindness is also very healing, and I’m not kidding — I feel filled up from head to toe.”
Grant credits her husband Vince Gill for helping her recover.
“He has just been so patient,” Grant said. “Vince has a kind of way of grounding the space that we’re in even without saying a word. I think early on I said, ‘What if I’m different, what if I’m not the same?’ and he said, ‘Hey, every day we wake up a little different, and we love each other, and it’s good.’”
Grant and country star Trisha Yearwood will be hosting this year’s CMA Country Christmas, airing Dec. 14. Some of the other performers will include Lady A, Zach Williams and Ashley McBryde.
“I hear a Christmas song, and in my mind, I’m remembering everybody from my family who’s no longer alive,” Grant told ON THE RED CARPET. “I remember my grandparents. I remember my great-grandparents. I remember my mom and dad. And there’s something because it’s just for a short amount of time every year. It’s like, oh, I’m returning, and so everything just washes back fresh.”
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