Obedience

I believe in tithing -- 10 percent to the church I attend, plus wherever else I think God leads. Given an income of under $11,000 per year, that stretches me at times (though it never seems to matter how much we make, it never seems like it's enough!).

Anyway a neighbor's brother was burned out the day after Christmas and I felt that I should give a little something to help out. I put it off for a couple weeks, sure I wasn't hearing clearly. Finally I did it, wondering how I'd recover from that financially.

Then a couple weeks ago I received a refund check from Time Warner equal to the amount I gave the neighbor's brother. It's been over six months since I cancelled that Internet account and I didn't even know I had a refund coming.

Then on Saturday I did my income taxes. My refund, because I qualify for earned income credit and because I paid tuition for attending college, is more than the amount I paid in tithe last year.
Please don't misunderstand me .... I'm not saying I give to God because he gives back to me more than I give. Instead giving usually DOES test my faith and I seldom see what happens to that gift nor do I personally see any correlation between my giving and any income. In fact as it stands right now my projected income will drop in half sometime between July and September, so I've been putting money aside to cover the gap just in case I'm not able to replace that income immediately. I've been tempted to put the tithe into the savings account as well. I will put most of upcoming refund into a savings account to help bridge that projected loss in income.

Nonetheless I must say my faith has been boosted and I am encouraged today. It just feels like God is shouting to me, "Hang in there, Nete. I really am still in control. And sometimes, girl, I even let you see Me working."