LEX

money.

i don't like it. it only seems to cause problems. we never have enough. and when we get more, we have even less.

i've grown up hearing that if you're faithful to give your tithe, the Lord will bless you. i've heard stories of people making sacrifices to pay their tithe and then anonymous checks or envelopes of cash just showing up so they can pay their bills. awesome, and truthful, stories of God's provision.

my church just finished a three week Money Matters series. and something finally clicked. it never quite made sense to me that we should give in order to receive. doesn't that seem a little selfish? of course there is a lot more you could explain so that it isn't, but on the surface it is selfish. but then it was explained this way.

in the old testament, the people were commanded to give in order to be blessed. in the new testament, we give because we ARE BLESSED. God has given us a lot. and it's all his anyway. why wouldn't we want to give some of it back to him?

and now another one of those crazy stories (but not quite so crazy as others). i have a very large expense coming up. one that's pretty unavoidable. one that has been on the horizon for some time, i just didn't know quite how much it was going to cost. when i was given the total cost, i almost cried. it's almost 1/3 of my yearly salary.

but then the insurance jumps in and brought it down appx. 35%. and then the payment option. it's still quite a large chunk each month. more than i'd like to give up at one time. but here's the crazy thing. when i crunch the numbers - i take my monthly salary, subtract the monthly payment, minus rent, school loan, other bills - even my tithe - and i still have just enough to live on for a month. now it's not like i'll get to go to all the fun concerts with my friends for about the next year, but i will be able to eat (and if gas prices keep going down, i might just be able to go to work so i can keep getting this salary! ;-) but then again, the Lord never promised fun concerts. he DID promise my daily bread.

now i do feel the need to add that all of this is in addition to what i have in my savings for just such emergencies. i thought i was going to have to deplete my savings and go into debt. now i can give out of my abundance.

that's the idea, at least.

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 4:00 PM