For those who are not of my faith, we believe and practice the law of Tithes and offerings. It is a commandment from our Heavenly Father that was first given in ancient times. Tithing is explained as being 10% of all of our income. We CHOOSE to follow this commandment! As a family we have sat down and decided that first and foremost we would pay our tithes. We know as a family that we need help. We struggle financially, we struggle putting food on the table and pay for gas. We are the NORM! We also know that the Lord promises to bless us:
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith … if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
There has been times where we have had to choose between food or tithing, gas or tithing, but we do know that everytime, every week, every day we have been blessed. Examples??? We have plenty... I will share a few.
First and foremost, Davone was going to school last year. He has always been horrible at math. He bought the fancy $100 calculator that was suppose to be the magical answer and that didn't help. I then started praying and making sure that instead of stressing about finances while he was going to school that I did my part by researching ways to be frugal and making sure Tithing was paid NO MATTER WHAT. He passed! To this day he knows nothing more about math. He will tell you that even though he took the math class twice and struggled and studied and got tutored by an awesome friend from church, that the ONLY reason he passed was directly linked to paying tithing.
Most recently I, myself had my testimony of this commandment strengthened. We were struggling to gather supplies for our son to attend a week long Boy Scout camp. The list was LONG and we wanted to make sure he had all he needed. The week before we had just bought stuff for his sister to go to camp and the week before that the youngest went to Little Rock to visit a friend. Needless to say finances were NOT looking so good. It was only the middle of the month and we only had $50 left for food and NO extra money for any supplies. But we are still faithfully and willingly paying tithing. As I was out at a dollar store looking for supplies for camp a prompting came to me to look at the envelope at home that was under a magnet on the refrigerator. So once I got home I found the envelope and inside was $50. $50!!!! It isn't a treasure chest filled with gold but to me it was. It brought a tear to my eye and I knelt in my room to offer a prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father. It was JUST enough to pay for the last supplies we needed for camp, cover my bill I was worried about paying, and put some gas in the car!
I know that during this time in our lives and our economy that it is difficult to follow such a principle, but I myself think that it would be more dangerous to NOT follow this commandment. This blog is filled with such a personal and simple testimony of the law of Tithing, I write this not for friends ( although I know they will read it ) but for my kids. So that they might understand how our Heavenly Father works and how he helps with little things. I know that we don't have a great amount of wealth, we still struggle with our budget, but I pray for JUST enough for us and some to share and we have always had that. So for my kids I pray for you to take away from this blog post the knowledge that Heavenly Father knows us all and hears our prayers and our concerns big or little, and that no matter what, no matter how much you think you don't have don't be selfish. EVERYTHING Heavenly Father gives us is for you to use AND share. My children know what I am talking about as I am constantly reminding them of these principles.
The lessons that I learned at a young age still apply today... They just make more sense now!
