Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
It is easy to give during times when we have plenty of money in the bank. In fact, during those times we may even subconsciously pat ourselves on the back because we are giving so much. Yet, when our financial status suddenly becomes a bit more challenging, many of us rationalize our way right out of giving. Sadly, even if we do give during those times, it usually isn't much. My hope is that today's boast will change that for someone. Here it is:
I remember a time back in 1995 when we were going through some very rough financial times. All I could afford to feed my three children was hotdogs, macaroni-n-cheese, and canned vegetables for about a month straight. Needless to say I concocted all kinds of creative ways to serve the same old thing over and over, and I tried to make it a fun and positive time for myself and the kids. I guess I was successful with that because my children now tell me they had no idea we were poor.
So there we were trying our best to get through the hot Florida summer without much food and without air conditioning. It was tempting to turn on the air, but I had to do everything I could to conserve money. It was uncomfortable, but we survived. Of course, as a mom, my heart ached to see my kids sweating all the time and eating the same old food every day, but I was grateful because I knew things could be a whole lot worse. In fact, knowing that there were others worse off than us is what prompted me to start "tithing".
I use quotation marks here because I had no income available to tithe off of. My husband at the time would not allow me to give money to the church from his income, and I had none of my own. Therefore, I decided to tithe groceries. If I spent $30 on groceries for my household, I gave $3 worth to the food pantry at church. Eventually, I added more than 10%. That may not seem like much, but it was like a million dollars to us. Especially since school was about to begin, and I had no money to buy the children good clothing and supplies.
That didn't stop us. My kids were always thinking of ways to give to others and be a blessing, and they just KNEW God would take care of their needs. And He did. We, the kids and I, had prayed that God would send us enough money not only to meet our own needs but also to be able to meet the needs of someone else as well. Two days before school was to begin, we received a very unexpected check in the mail for $1,000 dollars! I was able to buy groceries, pay the water and electric which were both about to be shut off, buy school supplies, buy school clothes and shoes, buy the gym clothes required by the school, AND BUY SUPPLIES AND GYM CLOTHES FOR ANOTHER CHILD ANONYMOUSLY! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see the smile and tears that child had when they received that blessing. There is no greater feeling than giving to others! God loves it when we do those kinds of things, so He always blesses us back so that we can give again and again and again! Isn't God awesome?
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