- Sep 11, 2006
- 3,698
- 424
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- United States
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- Female
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- Christian
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- Married
Does this go here, in this subforum?
I always see people with tithing woes in the "advice" column, but since a success story doesn't really beg for advice, i thought this was a more appropriate place to put it.
From age 19 to age 26, I got myself into debts that I couldn't get out of.
My meager paychecks were paying the bills and the debt minimums,
and that was all. There was no erasing the growing problem.
It was like financial cancer.
At 26, I got married. To a man who had debt of his own and maybe made a little more money but not much.
So we can't attrbute what I'm about to tell you to "my man's paychecks".
We were 2 people who were just barely scraping by month to month, for the first 7 months. Then something changed.
In fall after getting married (so 3-4 months in), I started putting regular tythes into the church baskets. I had seldom ever done that before. It wasn't 10%. sad to say, as much as I need to put more trust there, I haven't managed to put a few hundred in... but I put what I could. whatever cash was in my wallet that day. or I pinched all the small bills all week when breaking bigger ones. stuff like that.
These $10, 20, 40 deposits went in, even though at times it was tough because as I let it slip out my fingers I would think "but I could have saved it for later" "but i could have bought more groceries" "what if something happens and I need it"
but I did it. it's like that trust exercise where you fall and you have to beleive the person behind you will catch you.
I didn't do it thinking "God please bless and multiply this" I did it thinking "God thanks for taking care of me last week"
Often, the money would come back. I'd get a card with money because it was the holidays. one time we got a survey set from Nielsen and it had cash in it as incentive. Other times, I would find out something I needed was cheaper than I thought or I didn't need it at all because one turned up somewhere for free.
And as more months went by with me consistently doing this, even on weeks when I had a horrible time in every way and felt like "God failed me" (he didn't), the blessings would get bigger.
In February, right after 5-week-long suspenseful waiting period that my husband's income could go away and simultaneously a huge mistake at work might cost me my job (neither happened), I found out I was approved for a special consolidation loan. This changed everything.
It made it so my debt was one lump payment and not a bunch of tiny ones that ate up all my paychecks. Once I started "killing" debts between the paycheck money and the loan, credit score went up and lines of credit doubled and tripled.
No, I don't plan to spend it.... but it gave me an emergency plan B for something like losing my income. for a little while until I were to get a new one.
One less thing keeping me up at night.
My husband was given a surprise scholarship.
And he got a loan to and his credit went up.
we've been able to afford to eat better... as in organic.
God sent us a special little dog that brings us joy.
multiple times this year, I've been asked to work overtime... which is a bigger paycheck. that never used to happen.
Good things happen, but they don't happen the moment I drop money into a basket.
They happen circumstantially in the weeks and months after obeying God and making that small sacrifice.
I do wonder all the ways the blessings and provisions would flourish if I DID give up a few hundred every week... and some day I will.
I always see people with tithing woes in the "advice" column, but since a success story doesn't really beg for advice, i thought this was a more appropriate place to put it.
From age 19 to age 26, I got myself into debts that I couldn't get out of.
My meager paychecks were paying the bills and the debt minimums,
and that was all. There was no erasing the growing problem.
It was like financial cancer.
At 26, I got married. To a man who had debt of his own and maybe made a little more money but not much.
So we can't attrbute what I'm about to tell you to "my man's paychecks".
We were 2 people who were just barely scraping by month to month, for the first 7 months. Then something changed.
In fall after getting married (so 3-4 months in), I started putting regular tythes into the church baskets. I had seldom ever done that before. It wasn't 10%. sad to say, as much as I need to put more trust there, I haven't managed to put a few hundred in... but I put what I could. whatever cash was in my wallet that day. or I pinched all the small bills all week when breaking bigger ones. stuff like that.
These $10, 20, 40 deposits went in, even though at times it was tough because as I let it slip out my fingers I would think "but I could have saved it for later" "but i could have bought more groceries" "what if something happens and I need it"
but I did it. it's like that trust exercise where you fall and you have to beleive the person behind you will catch you.
I didn't do it thinking "God please bless and multiply this" I did it thinking "God thanks for taking care of me last week"
Often, the money would come back. I'd get a card with money because it was the holidays. one time we got a survey set from Nielsen and it had cash in it as incentive. Other times, I would find out something I needed was cheaper than I thought or I didn't need it at all because one turned up somewhere for free.
And as more months went by with me consistently doing this, even on weeks when I had a horrible time in every way and felt like "God failed me" (he didn't), the blessings would get bigger.
In February, right after 5-week-long suspenseful waiting period that my husband's income could go away and simultaneously a huge mistake at work might cost me my job (neither happened), I found out I was approved for a special consolidation loan. This changed everything.
It made it so my debt was one lump payment and not a bunch of tiny ones that ate up all my paychecks. Once I started "killing" debts between the paycheck money and the loan, credit score went up and lines of credit doubled and tripled.
No, I don't plan to spend it.... but it gave me an emergency plan B for something like losing my income. for a little while until I were to get a new one.
One less thing keeping me up at night.
My husband was given a surprise scholarship.
And he got a loan to and his credit went up.
we've been able to afford to eat better... as in organic.
God sent us a special little dog that brings us joy.
multiple times this year, I've been asked to work overtime... which is a bigger paycheck. that never used to happen.
Good things happen, but they don't happen the moment I drop money into a basket.
They happen circumstantially in the weeks and months after obeying God and making that small sacrifice.
I do wonder all the ways the blessings and provisions would flourish if I DID give up a few hundred every week... and some day I will.
