Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tithing Update
After posting my God Story about tithing yesterday, a friend asked me to share about our more recent experience, so here goes. (Kelly, this one's for you!)
Earlier this year, my husband, Kevin found himself unemployed. (How that came about is another God Story, but I'll stick to the tithing part of it today.) Not only was he unemployed, but he was not able to draw unemployment and we were suddenly uninsured. He had his part time job as a musician at the church and I had my part time babysitting job, but our income literally went from making in a week what he had been making in a day.
We had no way of knowing how long this season of really low income would last. Several times over the next 7 months, we thought he was being hired and for reasons we may never understand, the opportunity would just slip right through our fingers. We had faith that God was doing a mighty work in our lives, we just weren't sure what that might be.
Up until his job termination, we had been tithing online via an automatic payment plan and didn't have to give it much thought. We have been married 27 years and tithing has become a healthy habit, much like brushing our teeth or praying. But since we didn't know what income we might have each week, we stopped the autopayments and set up our "Blessings Journal" instead. Each week, as any money came into our hands, we'd write it down.
On Saturday, we would add it all up and praise God from whom all blessings flow. We called it counting our blessings. Then, we'd calculate our tithe for the week and post it. I remember the first week, our tithe was $12. It seemed almost too small to fool with, but we wanted to be faithful, so with a big bite of humble pie, we gave.
This continued week after week. One week there was no money in checking to pay the tithe, but we had been paid in cash, so we gave cash. It was a scary feeling to not have any money in the checking account and I must admit, I did panic. I tried to sell everything that wasn't nailed down and applied for entry level positions all over town.
But, God is good. All the time. Over what would be the next 7 months, we never went hungry, never were without electricity or even got behind on payments.
Yes, we did defer some loan payments. Yes, we did sell some personal property. Yes, we did any work we could find, including temp. work, housecleaning and babysitting. No job was too small or too dirty. Kev likes to say that God gives every little bird his food, but He doesn't throw it into the nest! Whatever opportunities God brought our way, we took them and were very grateful.
Once Kevin had a new job, he mentioned that it sure would be nice to know how much money would be coming in each month and to be able to go back to automatic tithe payments. When we talked about how much our tithe would be, it set me to thinking. What had we averaged during our season of unemployment?
Are you sitting down? This is hard to believe, but true. For all those weeks of unemployment, our AVERAGE weekly tithe was MORE than our tithe had been when Kev was working full time?! (plus his part time church job and my part time babysitting job) It's crazy, I know!
All I can say, is to God be the glory! Great things He has done and continues to do!
Earlier this year, my husband, Kevin found himself unemployed. (How that came about is another God Story, but I'll stick to the tithing part of it today.) Not only was he unemployed, but he was not able to draw unemployment and we were suddenly uninsured. He had his part time job as a musician at the church and I had my part time babysitting job, but our income literally went from making in a week what he had been making in a day.
We had no way of knowing how long this season of really low income would last. Several times over the next 7 months, we thought he was being hired and for reasons we may never understand, the opportunity would just slip right through our fingers. We had faith that God was doing a mighty work in our lives, we just weren't sure what that might be.
Up until his job termination, we had been tithing online via an automatic payment plan and didn't have to give it much thought. We have been married 27 years and tithing has become a healthy habit, much like brushing our teeth or praying. But since we didn't know what income we might have each week, we stopped the autopayments and set up our "Blessings Journal" instead. Each week, as any money came into our hands, we'd write it down.
On Saturday, we would add it all up and praise God from whom all blessings flow. We called it counting our blessings. Then, we'd calculate our tithe for the week and post it. I remember the first week, our tithe was $12. It seemed almost too small to fool with, but we wanted to be faithful, so with a big bite of humble pie, we gave.
This continued week after week. One week there was no money in checking to pay the tithe, but we had been paid in cash, so we gave cash. It was a scary feeling to not have any money in the checking account and I must admit, I did panic. I tried to sell everything that wasn't nailed down and applied for entry level positions all over town.
But, God is good. All the time. Over what would be the next 7 months, we never went hungry, never were without electricity or even got behind on payments.
Yes, we did defer some loan payments. Yes, we did sell some personal property. Yes, we did any work we could find, including temp. work, housecleaning and babysitting. No job was too small or too dirty. Kev likes to say that God gives every little bird his food, but He doesn't throw it into the nest! Whatever opportunities God brought our way, we took them and were very grateful.
Once Kevin had a new job, he mentioned that it sure would be nice to know how much money would be coming in each month and to be able to go back to automatic tithe payments. When we talked about how much our tithe would be, it set me to thinking. What had we averaged during our season of unemployment?
Are you sitting down? This is hard to believe, but true. For all those weeks of unemployment, our AVERAGE weekly tithe was MORE than our tithe had been when Kev was working full time?! (plus his part time church job and my part time babysitting job) It's crazy, I know!
All I can say, is to God be the glory! Great things He has done and continues to do!
Monday, November 8, 2010
God Stories: Tithing
Recently, our church asked us to send in our God Stories. I have so many stories about how God has worked in my life and is continuing to work, that I think I could fill my own book! You know, I just might do that! I might write enough blogs that I can put them together for a book of my own one day.
I'm one of those slightly OCD people that loves lists! I like to make lists of chores that need to be done, of things that need to be bought, people I need to touch base with, things I've accomplished today, this week, whenever ..... the possibilities are endless. I even like books of lists. I have a collection of "Lists to Live By" books and can read them over and over.
So, my thinking today is, why not bring together some of my favorite things on my blog? I can make a list of God stories, share the stories and try to bring God Glory in some small way, all at the same time. Also, I love to talk, so I get to talk all I want all at the same time!
Hope you enjoy! Comments are welcome, either way.
Once upon a time, Kev and I were very young, newly weds. He was 21 and I was 20. We thought we were so grown up at the time, but really, we were just babes! We attended a church and gave a little bit of money every week, but hadn't really experienced tithing on a regular basis.
One Sunday, this "rich" guy who was one of the leaders in our church, stood up and shared about tithing. He said tithing was the only thing in the Bible that God said we could test Him on. He went on to share that it was a spiritual exercise, a form of worship and we would see how God takes care of us and that there is no way you can outgive God. This all sounded well and good to me, but a little voice in my head was saying,"sure that's pretty easy for you rich folks, but some of us are doing good to keep the lights on", you know?
Well, the guy took his talk one step further and actually challenged us to give our tithe for one year. If at the end of the year, we were not better off financially and spiritually, he would personally give us our money back?! Can you believe that? I saw dollar signs in my head and started thinking about how nice it would be to give our tithe all year (and thus feel so good about our giving) and then get it all back this time next year! Win/Win, right? Wow! I could buy a used car with that money or pay off some debt or take a vacation ... my "list" went on and on!
So, long story short, we began tithing that week and somehow God made our money stretch further than it ever had and we were never without anyhing we needed and most of what we wanted.
It was supernatural and can only be explained by God keeps His promises.
He simply outgives us every time.
So, we didn't need to hit the guy up for a refund after all. Blew my mind!
We have tried to tithe consistently ever since and would highly recommend this act of worship to anyone who has never tried it.
I'm one of those slightly OCD people that loves lists! I like to make lists of chores that need to be done, of things that need to be bought, people I need to touch base with, things I've accomplished today, this week, whenever ..... the possibilities are endless. I even like books of lists. I have a collection of "Lists to Live By" books and can read them over and over.
So, my thinking today is, why not bring together some of my favorite things on my blog? I can make a list of God stories, share the stories and try to bring God Glory in some small way, all at the same time. Also, I love to talk, so I get to talk all I want all at the same time!
Hope you enjoy! Comments are welcome, either way.
Once upon a time, Kev and I were very young, newly weds. He was 21 and I was 20. We thought we were so grown up at the time, but really, we were just babes! We attended a church and gave a little bit of money every week, but hadn't really experienced tithing on a regular basis.
One Sunday, this "rich" guy who was one of the leaders in our church, stood up and shared about tithing. He said tithing was the only thing in the Bible that God said we could test Him on. He went on to share that it was a spiritual exercise, a form of worship and we would see how God takes care of us and that there is no way you can outgive God. This all sounded well and good to me, but a little voice in my head was saying,"sure that's pretty easy for you rich folks, but some of us are doing good to keep the lights on", you know?
Well, the guy took his talk one step further and actually challenged us to give our tithe for one year. If at the end of the year, we were not better off financially and spiritually, he would personally give us our money back?! Can you believe that? I saw dollar signs in my head and started thinking about how nice it would be to give our tithe all year (and thus feel so good about our giving) and then get it all back this time next year! Win/Win, right? Wow! I could buy a used car with that money or pay off some debt or take a vacation ... my "list" went on and on!
So, long story short, we began tithing that week and somehow God made our money stretch further than it ever had and we were never without anyhing we needed and most of what we wanted.
It was supernatural and can only be explained by God keeps His promises.
He simply outgives us every time.
So, we didn't need to hit the guy up for a refund after all. Blew my mind!
We have tried to tithe consistently ever since and would highly recommend this act of worship to anyone who has never tried it.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Mental Illness
All of these are valid examples of the mentally ill, but don't begin to illustrate every possible case of mental illness.
Having just spent a week at Woodridge (Our local mental health hospital) after a nervous breakdown and a diagnosis of "Depressive Disorder", I can tell you from first hand experience that mental illness doesn't belong to any one group of people. On my wing alone, we had men and women, all ages, all races, all income levels and all different levels of education.
It was, quite possibly, the hardest, most awful week of my life ... but totally, necessary. I hated it. It was truly no fun at all. Not a bit like a spa. ( why I thought it would be restful, I have no idea ... let's blame the mental illness, shall we? LOL) It was more like a comfortable jail.
We had no privacy. We spent all day in the view of the staff and had to get along with each other even though we were all at very different places. We went to group therapy together, we ate meals together and we even lined up for meds together. I think it was the longest week of my life. I know it was the only week of my life that I never got to go outside and breathe some fresh air.
The only bright spot was my daily visit from Kevin and sometimes, Rachael. Gran and Sharon were allowed to come at one point, but visitors were very limited and only for about an hour each day. Even that was bittersweet as I could tell they had been crying and hated leaving me there.
So, what did I learn?
1. I've had this mental illness all my life. So many past struggles now make sense. For that, I'm thankful.
2. This illness requires diligent effort to keep under control, but I can get better.
3. Mental illness requires attention to the physical and the spiritual as well as the emotional. All three must be healthy and whole.
4. Every person, whether smart, dumb, attractive, ugly, rich, poor or whatever deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. There's an old southern saying, "there but for the grace of God, go I". Next time you're tempted to scoff at someone, remember that it could be you, given the right circumstances.
5. Never, ever, share your prescription meds with someone else and never, ever let them share theirs with you. This is enabling and part of what landed me in the nuthouse to begin with.
6. If you are on any prescription drugs, make extra sure you are taking the right dosage. Don't be afraid to double check with your doctor or pharmacist about dosage. This is another lesson learned the hard way and another contributing factor of my breakdown.
7. God is very present in the psych ward. You do not want to be there alone, trust me!? It can be a scary place. But, I know that everything can be used by God and I'm looking forward to seeing how He will use this particular aspect of my life. Even our therapists told us that those patients with faith as part of their lives had the best chance at recovery.
8. If you are suicidal or experiencing cycling of moods to the extremes as in feeling like you are Queen of the world one day and plunging into the bottomless pit the next, or even just really sad for a long time, do not give up! You can get better! You'd take insulin if you were diabetic, right? Well, it may be that your brain is struggling. Maybe your receptors aren't working right. Maybe you don't have enough serotonin. Who knows. Get help. Whether through a counselor, doctor, clergy, friends, whoever you have to talk to, refuse to settle for less than the life God intended for you! He did not create you to be a pit dweller!
9. The doctors, nurses, techs and other staff that work at Woodridge are amazing. How they can stay calm and positive with people trying to harm themselves, ranting and raving, crying, trying to roam around naked, stealing from each other, lying and who knows what all, is beyond me. I suspect they may have a high burn out rate. It's a really tough job and I hope to pass along the kindness that I saw there.
10. Last but not least. Your family deserves to have the best you that you can be. If you can't seek help for yourself, do it for them. My breakdown was harder on my family than my breast cancer was, I think. I wish I had been more pro-active and not reached that breaking point if only to have spared them the pain. I can't go back and fix the past. I only have today. If you can avoid some pain by knowing about my experience, please do so and Give God the Glory!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Readers Read
Do you enjoy reading? I suspect you do, since you are reading my blog! I have loved reading as long as I can remember. Reading takes me all over the world, inside other people's minds and stretches my imagination.
Some of my best childhood memories are reading a huge stack of comic books in my tree house. My friends and I all collected comic books and would swap out stacks at a time. I could spend an entire Saturday or summer vacation day in the tree house with these books.
I had a hammock that stretched between two apple trees in my parents' backyard and that was a perfect place for reading paperback books. I think I read every Grace Livingston Hill book she ever printed in that hammock during the Tween years when you want to learn about love, but don't yet want to talk about it.
I'm terrible about getting names and titles mixed up, so I don't dare try to name the books I loved the best, but there was one that was called something like "My Side of the Mountain" about a boy living in the forest for a year and chronicling his experiences. It was so cool! I read that book over and over until it literally just fell apart. I would take the family dog, a German shepherd named Wolf, with me into the woods and pretend I was that boy all the time. We would build shelters and look for berries and chop down paths with my brothers' boy scout machete and all that fun survival stuff. I hope when kids watch the Survivor Guys on TV these days that it will encourage them to get outside and enjoy nature, too! Somehow, being outside with no signs of urban areas just makes you feel close to God and that as long as you have Him, it's going to be alright. I'm so grateful I had the freedom to roam the woods when I was a kid and that I developed a love for books early on.
Right now, I'm "into" Don Miller and am reading "Searching for God Knows What". I'd recommend any of his books and anything by Francine Rivers or Terry Blackstock.
Get outside today and read!
Some of my best childhood memories are reading a huge stack of comic books in my tree house. My friends and I all collected comic books and would swap out stacks at a time. I could spend an entire Saturday or summer vacation day in the tree house with these books.
I had a hammock that stretched between two apple trees in my parents' backyard and that was a perfect place for reading paperback books. I think I read every Grace Livingston Hill book she ever printed in that hammock during the Tween years when you want to learn about love, but don't yet want to talk about it.
I'm terrible about getting names and titles mixed up, so I don't dare try to name the books I loved the best, but there was one that was called something like "My Side of the Mountain" about a boy living in the forest for a year and chronicling his experiences. It was so cool! I read that book over and over until it literally just fell apart. I would take the family dog, a German shepherd named Wolf, with me into the woods and pretend I was that boy all the time. We would build shelters and look for berries and chop down paths with my brothers' boy scout machete and all that fun survival stuff. I hope when kids watch the Survivor Guys on TV these days that it will encourage them to get outside and enjoy nature, too! Somehow, being outside with no signs of urban areas just makes you feel close to God and that as long as you have Him, it's going to be alright. I'm so grateful I had the freedom to roam the woods when I was a kid and that I developed a love for books early on.
Right now, I'm "into" Don Miller and am reading "Searching for God Knows What". I'd recommend any of his books and anything by Francine Rivers or Terry Blackstock.
Get outside today and read!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
I'm a Survivor!
Having breast cancer in 2006 changed my life!
I learned some real lessons that year and the years since that I might not have learned any other way.
I'm sure I'll think of some really cool stuff later on when my computer is not available, but for now, here's what's on my mind.
1. God is good! All the time! Whether sick or well, rich or poor, happy or sad, God is still the same. He holds me in the palm of his hand and can make terrible situations turn out for my good, if I will just let Him.
2. Don't pay medical bills with credit. We might be debt free today if I had not panicked about the bills and used credit to pay for them. One bill that I did set up on payments with the hospital was cut in half after paying payments for one year. I wish I had tried harder to settle my accounts instead of taking the easy and quick way out and racking up debt.
3. The best answer I could come up with when people said they question God about "Why?" is "Why not?" We all live in this fallen world together and we are all terminal. Christ learned obedience through his suffering. If He had to suffer, who am I to think my life should always be easy?
4. Let people help you. You've probably helped others in their time of need and now it's your turn to let them serve you in whatever way they are comfortable. My "Pink Ladies", friends and family united to take care of me, were wonderful examples of being the hands and feet of Christ! They did my housework, my laundry, my meals, kept each other informed of my daily treatments and needs, took my daughte to appointments, sat with me, sent me cards and gifts ... just loved me really well. I cannot think of another time in my life that I felt more loved than I did that year.
5. The world will not fall off its axis if you take a break from all your comittments. Turns out there are other folks out there that can do just as well if not better than me at family dinners, church work, volunteer work and God wants me to step back sometimes and let Him shine through others and let them blessed in the doing as I have been blessed.
6. There is life after cancer. It may not be the life you had before, but life is all about change anyway. Even if you didn't have cancer, your life would have changed over the years. I've stopped waiting for my life to return to normal and learned to accept the new normal.
7. Regardless of treatment options, I'm not leaving this earth until God is ready for me. He knows the number of hairs on my head (OK so I had NO hair there for a while, but you know what I mean) and the numbers of days of my life. Until He calls me home, He has good works already planned for me and I want to be doing them.
8. I can choose Joy! Every day, every breath, my attitude is under my control. There may not be much else that I can really control, but I can choose Joy! It's not the same as being happy. It's more about contentment and seeing all the blessings instead of all the challenges.
9. Walking around bald headed is empowering! I would encourage any chemo patient to just try it! You walk in with a bald head and everyone smiles at you and hugs you and lets us skip the line at Hard Rock Cafe! It's great! Of course, if you are a shy one, this might not apply to you, but I love being the center of attention, so it was a cool perk for me.
10. If you have reconstructive surgery, you will look better in your clothes, but don't expect anything else from it. It just never occurred to me how much numbness would last forever. I'd still have the reconstruction surgery, but it would have been nice to know ahead of time.
I learned some real lessons that year and the years since that I might not have learned any other way.
I'm sure I'll think of some really cool stuff later on when my computer is not available, but for now, here's what's on my mind.
1. God is good! All the time! Whether sick or well, rich or poor, happy or sad, God is still the same. He holds me in the palm of his hand and can make terrible situations turn out for my good, if I will just let Him.
2. Don't pay medical bills with credit. We might be debt free today if I had not panicked about the bills and used credit to pay for them. One bill that I did set up on payments with the hospital was cut in half after paying payments for one year. I wish I had tried harder to settle my accounts instead of taking the easy and quick way out and racking up debt.
3. The best answer I could come up with when people said they question God about "Why?" is "Why not?" We all live in this fallen world together and we are all terminal. Christ learned obedience through his suffering. If He had to suffer, who am I to think my life should always be easy?
4. Let people help you. You've probably helped others in their time of need and now it's your turn to let them serve you in whatever way they are comfortable. My "Pink Ladies", friends and family united to take care of me, were wonderful examples of being the hands and feet of Christ! They did my housework, my laundry, my meals, kept each other informed of my daily treatments and needs, took my daughte to appointments, sat with me, sent me cards and gifts ... just loved me really well. I cannot think of another time in my life that I felt more loved than I did that year.
5. The world will not fall off its axis if you take a break from all your comittments. Turns out there are other folks out there that can do just as well if not better than me at family dinners, church work, volunteer work and God wants me to step back sometimes and let Him shine through others and let them blessed in the doing as I have been blessed.
6. There is life after cancer. It may not be the life you had before, but life is all about change anyway. Even if you didn't have cancer, your life would have changed over the years. I've stopped waiting for my life to return to normal and learned to accept the new normal.
7. Regardless of treatment options, I'm not leaving this earth until God is ready for me. He knows the number of hairs on my head (OK so I had NO hair there for a while, but you know what I mean) and the numbers of days of my life. Until He calls me home, He has good works already planned for me and I want to be doing them.
8. I can choose Joy! Every day, every breath, my attitude is under my control. There may not be much else that I can really control, but I can choose Joy! It's not the same as being happy. It's more about contentment and seeing all the blessings instead of all the challenges.
9. Walking around bald headed is empowering! I would encourage any chemo patient to just try it! You walk in with a bald head and everyone smiles at you and hugs you and lets us skip the line at Hard Rock Cafe! It's great! Of course, if you are a shy one, this might not apply to you, but I love being the center of attention, so it was a cool perk for me.
10. If you have reconstructive surgery, you will look better in your clothes, but don't expect anything else from it. It just never occurred to me how much numbness would last forever. I'd still have the reconstruction surgery, but it would have been nice to know ahead of time.
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