Tithing

Tithing has been a challenge to me over the years. I had no problem sharing my talents and time, but my treasure was mine thank you very much. When I was attending the Catholic Church I would pay my bills, get groceries and get whatever I needed and what was left over (which was very little) I would give to the church. And I felt righteous doing it this way. I looked around the pews and saw all the fancy dressed people and richness of the church itself and felt that I giving more my fair share. For many years I just kind of bumped along this way. My mother noticed that although I would have many financial problems, I would never get too far down because something would turn up. I'm thinking that because I tithed the way I did. I just scrapped by because I give my scraps to the church.

These days I tithe to what spiritually feds me first and then I pay my bills. My life has changed drastically. I'm tithing my talents, time and treasure and finding that the things I need are showing up in my life. For example: I wanted flowers yard. (For those of you who don't know I'm planning to get rid of every blade of grass in my yard and put paths down with bushes, plants, flowers and herbs everywhere in between). Anyway, friends have given me bushes, plants and seeds. My yard is looking great. It gives me a great deal of inner peace to look out and see plants and flowers growing and to see my winding paths just waiting for me to walk them. Another example also involves my yard. I don't have a lawnmower so I've been using a weed eater to mow my entire yard. Let me tell you, that gets old really fast. I'd get tired and drop the thing and make a bald spot. Which was okay with me because that meant there went one less grass patch I would have to pull up. I've spent plenty of time thinking about how I was going to afford a lawnmower and couldn't come up with a way to fit it into my budget. I finally got to the point that I couldn't physically use the weed eater on my yard and couldn't pay anyone to mow my yard...then a friend one day says to me "Would you let me use your weed eater if I mowed your yard for you?" I said "sure." I might have looked calm on the outside, but on the inside I was dancing up and down, thinking "Thank you, God!!!" Its working out great my yard is beautiful. Now days, my yard is mostly garden and I only need to weed eat the pathways occasionally.

It seems to me, I am on one of those moving sidewalks (you know those things that are at the airport- and they have gaps between them so you have a chance to get off where you need to go). Anyway I'm on one of those moving sidewalks of prosperity. I tithe my talents, time and treasure with joy in my heart. Did y'all really believe that? Okay, at least most of the time I do. There are still times I find it a scary proposition to tithe my salary away when I have medical bills, need to buy more medications and I have to buy special foods which tends to be expensive and I would love have money left over for other things that just catch my eye. When I get bogged down in this fear, I get off the moving sidewalk and the flow of prosperity slows down...it doesn't stop completely, but I can tell the difference.

I've taken steps to get rid of my fear of lack. I get paid once a month and by the last Sunday or two I would be struggling to come up with my tithe. You can believe me when I tell you that during this last week or two there was not joy in my heart about tithing. I even had the thought, I'll skip church this Sunday because I'll want to wait until after payday and I'll put my tithing for this week and that one together. I've learned that if I tithed my entire check on the first Sunday after my payday that I can give with joy. I can feel the joy of tithing thru out the month and not just the first couple of weeks. I'll admit that first month was scary. That was a big check to be writing. It's gotten a lot better. My moving sidewalk has grown much longer. The things I need are moving into my life, as I need them. I'm still having moments (not days or weeks mind you, moments) where I think I have a lack in my life, but this is changing. Stretton Smith of the 4T prosperity program says "The essence of tithing is joy. In fact, the essence of giving is joy. Always keep that I mind. Joy gives you the great joy." These days I'm really truly experiencing the joy of giving and receiving of my time, talent and treasure.