February 21, 2009

Proverbs 14:21
If you want to be happy, be kind to the poor: it is a sin to despise anyone.

Greetings My Friend,

To me one of the best lessons I have learned is the lesson on giving. My nature tends to want to hold on to money. I grew up in a poor family and money was always tight. We lived off of Mom’s income which wasn’t much. When Dad was able to work again after polio, he earned very little. Money was a constant struggle as I grew up. We were given clothes from people from our church. We often got bulk cheese and powdered milk to help supplement our food. Grandma’s work in a kitchen at the hospital would send food home with her so we could eat. Because of generous people my family always had food to eat and I never missed a meal as I grew up.
As I found myself back in church when my children were little I found that giving was often a life line for me. I volunteered to be a youth advisor at my church. It was a job I loved and did for around 15 years. I loved those teens and they loved me. It was wonderful being loved. I did not feel loved as a child. I did not feel loved as a wife. With the teens though, I felt so loved And wanted. That was my first walk with giving. Giving to the teens was so good for me. They helped me to focus outside myself. That act of giving of my time was really the start of growing out of much depression.

When Junior and I started talking about getting married we talked about giving. It was important to both of us. I tended to give of my time. I had learned to look outside of myself and to reach out. In that I found a lot of healing. I still went through years and years of counseling, but the youth helped me to move through a lot of my emotional pain. Junior believed in tithing at least 10% of his income to the Lord. The tithing part was something I was working toward. When he told me that he wanted to tithe well, I thought that we should.

I am sooo very happy that we have kept the tithing we both brought to our marriage. Junior is willing to help others out. We have done missions trips. We have helped orphans in Nicagura. We have helped the poor in Tennessee by fixing their homes and we have helped people in Detroit as well. In addition we have helped a Missionary in France – a couple Junior has helped support for close to 20 years now. We give freely to our church as well. Tithing has blessed us so much. Tithing makes us aware of others that are in need. When we help others in need, we honor God. When we keep Jesus as our main focus, then we have peace in our life. Do we have hard days? Yes, by all means we do. Through all the trials that life brings our way though, we find a peace.

May I suggest that you begin a tithing journey? It could be as simple as helping out at a soup kitchen, donating to Salvation Army or helping in some sort of help organization. Giving of your money is also important. We are what we spend our money on, what does your money spending say about you?

May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you.

Love
Janet