Generosity
134 conversations where the hosts get into generosity.
134 conversations
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Dear LFTP: the $4,200 loan that never came back
- How do I get past the sadness over the $4,200 loan my friend never repaid — do I just let it go?
The final Dear LFTP letter: a year ago a supposed friend asked to borrow money — her husband had left the country to renew his visa, her car was repossessed, she had no way to get to work.
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Dear LFTP: the neighbor Tim and boundaries without guilt
- How can I end the friendship with my difficult neighbor Tim without sending him into a spiral?
Mike reads a letter from a self-described clean-freak friend of a hoarding, narcissistic, government-program neighbor named Tim: how to end the friendship without sending Tim into a spiral.
From No. 582 · Risky Business | Christian Risk-Taking, Community Engagement, Faith in Action
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Dear LFTP: the $99 birthday bill and "Jesus always pays"
- Was it wrong to be taken aback when I was expected to split the cost of a friend's birthday dinner?
Mike reads a letter from a man invited to a friend's birthday dinner at a popular restaurant: after the birthday boy excused himself, the waiter presented the bill and the nine…
From No. 580 · Not Sure | Old Testament Law, Holy Spirit Guidance, Christian Discernment
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Dear LFTP: the birthday bill
- Is it unreasonable to resent always paying the family birthday bills?
A woman asks if she is unreasonable for resenting the $500-$1,000 birthday bills she always covers for her younger sister, whose husband never helps.
From No. 563 · Raptors and Heifers
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Dear LFTP: ending a 30-year relationship with the house cleaner
- Dear LFTP: How do I end a 30-year relationship with my house cleaner, and what do I owe her?
Mike reads a second Dear LFTP letter from a retired listener who wants to end a 30-year house-cleaning arrangement and asks what she owes her loyal cleaner.
From No. 556 · A Christian Mid-Life Crisis
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Dear LFTP: the GoFundMe for a friend with cancer
- How do I balance my friendship with my moral compass regarding the GoFundMe I set up?
A Dear LFTP letter: the writer set up a GoFundMe for a close friend diagnosed with breast cancer who has always been impulsive with money (gambling, cruises, fancy restaurants)…
From No. 552 · Affirming the Nasty Part
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Dear LFTP: the gift-card etiquette question
- Is it proper etiquette to use a gift card from my brother when dining out with him, and should the excess go toward his bill?
Boova reads a second Dear LFTP letter on gift-card etiquette: a couple wondering whether to use a restaurant gift card from the brother and sister-in-law when dining with them, and whether to apply any excess to the brother's bill.
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Dear LFTP: paying a favor forward
- Is there a rule of etiquette that says you should pay a favor forward instead of repaying it to the person who helped you?
Mike (speaker-1) reads the first Dear LFTP letter (addressed 'Dear Life on the Path'): a listener gave a coworker rides to and from work for six months, then heard through another…
From No. 546 · For God or With God
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Am I the Donkeys Behind? The father-in-law's free house
- Am I the donkey's behind for handing the house decisions back to my father-in-law?
- Should the couple take the free house and stick it out with the controlling father-in-law?
The guest reads the second letter: a generous father-in-law with 'the a-hole gene' bought the neighboring house for the couple, put his and the husband's names on the title, then…
From No. 536 · The Olympic Supper Club
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Dear LFTP: the surrogate baby shower
- Was it proper etiquette for a surrogate baby shower invitation to ask guests to donate toward the surrogacy costs?
Dear LFTP letter two: a listener got an Evite to a surrogate baby shower asking each guest for diapers, a favorite children's book, and a donation toward the surrogacy costs, with a note explaining how expensive the process is.
From No. 524 · Handshakes and Wrongness
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Dear LFTP: the difficult apartment neighbor
- How do I politely but firmly set boundaries with a difficult neighbor?
Mike reads the 'doormat' letter: a lonely, miserable neighbor demands rides, walks into the apartment uninvited, and fumes when the writer goes to the store without her.
From No. 507 · What’s in a Name
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Dear LFTP: the mean neighborhood girl
- How do I ask the mean neighborhood girl to leave without seeming like a bully?
A mother asks how to ask a mean neighborhood girl to leave without seeming like a bully. The hosts advise against vindictive parenting, encourage treating the girl with the same…
From No. 505 · Because of Fussy and Fuzzy
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Dear LFTP: the heirloom fight, duck paintings, and sentimental things
- Am I wrong to still be upset that my sister gave away our mother's antiques?
Mike reads the final letter: after their mother died, the writer's sister Nadine gave away two antique heirlooms to her future daughter-in-law without asking, and their father only agreed she should have asked.
From No. 495 · $20 and a Dilly Bar
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Dear LFTP: the husband who is generous with everyone but his wife
- Why is my husband generous with everyone else but stingy with me, and what should I do about it?
Mike (speaker-1) reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman married 30+ years whose husband splits every bill to the penny and is generous with everyone except her, making her feel unimportant.
From No. 493 · Charlatan Kings
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Dear LFTP: the dirty-old-man breakfast letter
- Is it wrong for me to keep buying breakfast for my single-mom neighbor?
The final Dear LFTP letter: the writer buys fast-food breakfast for his single-mom neighbor and her son on the way home from appointments, and his wife says stop or the neighbor will think he's a dirty old man.
From No. 474 · The Details Are Super Important
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Dear LFTP: the shoplifting friend, and outro
- Should I reach out to my shoplifting friend and suggest friendship without shopping, restaurants, or music?
The final letter: a listener said goodbye to a twenty-year friend after catching her shoplifting once and noticing she doesn't tip, then catching her sneaking into a musical event — and asks whether to suggest walks-only hangouts.
From No. 465 · Cults May Be Wonderful
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Dear LFTP: friend who takes 'stay anytime' literally
- Am I wrong to be annoyed that my friend takes my 'stay anytime' offer literally and leaves a mess?
A listener asks if he is wrong to be annoyed that a friend, told he could stay over anytime, now visits constantly, never goes out with the host, leaves piles of clothes and used tissues and face masks around the living room.
From No. 456 · Just Do It
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Church charity and the discernment line
- Is it wrong for a church to ask help-seekers to attend a service before giving aid?
Mike reads 2 Thessalonians 3:9-11 — "if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" — and the hosts revisit the Canadian church that offers a grocery gift card to help-seekers…
From No. 452 · False Teachers and Freeloaders
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Only thirteen percent of evangelicals tithe
- What percentage of evangelicals actually tithe?
- Does a day set apart as holy still matter beyond legalism?
A giving study ("The Generosity Factor" finds only 13% of evangelicals tithe, half give less than 1% of income, and the median church giver gives about $800 a year.
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Dear LFTP: the retired widow and her negative renter
- How do I handle my renter's constant negativity without throwing him out?
A retired widow took in a renter in his sixties who lost his job and can no longer pay full rent; he is clean and respectful but constantly angry and negative, filling her home with heaviness.
From No. 440 · Redeem or Reject
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Dear LFTP: the promised antiques that went to the brother-in-law
- How do we reconcile feeling used when promised family antiques were given to the brother-in-law?
The Dear LFTP letter: before marriage, a woman and her husband heard stories that the eldest son would inherit the antiques; after long weekends working on the in-laws' honey-do list, the parents gave every piece to the brother-in-law.
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Dear LFTP: nephew Jim's trading cards turn out valuable
- Should I split the trading-card sale proceeds with my nephew?
The second Dear LFTP letter: years ago, teenage nephew Jim gave his younger cousin his trading-card collection as a kind-hearted gift; now part of it is quite valuable and the…
From No. 434 · Rebuilding Tower of Babel
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Dear LFTP: gift-giving that never gets returned
- Is gift-giving supposed to be reciprocal, and how do I handle someone who refuses to give?
A listener is frustrated that a friend refuses to give any gifts for birthdays or Christmas while happily receiving them.