Thursday, March 19, 2009

Tithing is FUN!

Tithing sometimes conjures up unpleasant thoughts, but it really shouldn't. Years ago, Jeff and I decided to take the plunge and start tithing--even though our budget didn't make sense on paper. However, we were challenged by the verse in Malachi 3:10.
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

We decided that we would take God up on this challenge and see what would happen if we tithed at the beginning of the month. Would we run out of money, or would God provide? We found out that He is true to His word, and we didn't run out of money.

Over the years, we have found that God has blessed us in some unexpected ways and has 'poured out so much blessing' that we have been wowed by the things He has done. Here is an example:

When we got approved to adopt Zoey and Kate, we needed a few things. We needed a double stroller and actually, two double strollers would come in handy. We went to KidsRUs to check them out. The one I fell in love with was a jogger stroller. It rolled so smoothly and handled with ease. Unfortunately, it had a huge price tag. We left the store and I decided I would try to find a used one. I looked and looked. Nothing materialized. The lady at the consignment store said that they sell within hours of coming in. I prayed and asked God for a new double stroller (or two). Shortly after, a friend emailed me to say that her friend wanted to get rid of her double stroller. It was not a jogger, but it was a nice one. I was quite happy to get it and stopped praying for a jogger.

Today, I was talking to my neighbor and she mentioned that a friend of hers had a double jogger stroller that she was trying to get rid of. (!) I told her I would love one and she said she would check to see if her friend still had it. She told me that her friend had posted it on Facebook a week ago, so it was probably long gone.

An hour or so later, my neighbor pulled into our driveway. I went out to see what she needed and low and behold, she was unloading a beautiful, almost new double jogger stroller!! It has only been used about five times, and is nicer than the one we looked at in the store. She also brought a huge bag of kids clothes for Jake and Jordan. How fun! Many of the clothes were too small, so we get to pass them on to another friend who is in need. Cool!!


The kids had a ball pulling out all the clothes and trying them on. Lately, the three little kids have been doing an amusing Kung-fu move and saying, "Ta-Da!" It just cracks me up. I snapped this picture of them doing their 'move,' while wearing a strange assortment of the donated clothing.

The Tireless Trio