Home Sweet Simple Home

Tithing Part 3

Part 3 of tithing:

I’d like to say the story just gets happier and happier as we gave more and more to the Lord. But, like I said before, I want to be real. And that isn’t exactly what happened.

God did bless us- both financially and with children too. We’ve never been wealthy by the world’s standards but we were always been able to pay our bills- make ends meet with a little bit to spare. Notice I said were.

I, hate to admit it, but I got caught up in the spending game. I didn’t purchase the best of the best of everything but I wanted nice, wonderful things for my dear, darling children- enter credit cards.

To make a long story short, I overindulged in credit cards with not much to show for it and put my family in serious financial hurt. I say “I” because it was me. I never told my husband and he never looked at the bills, we had long since ceased going over our finances and budget together and he had left it all in my capable hands, or so he thought.

When I finally broke down and shared our sorry financial straits with my husband he was mortified and I was deeply ashamed. I had tried to hide it from him for months and months, hoping and praying to fix/finagle things. God had been working on my heart- pushing me to tell my husband the whole sordid truth and I kept telling God there had to be a better way. I now know that things only continued to get worse because I continued to disobey God. It wasn’t until I was completely broken before the Lord and my husband that God began our restoration. I praise Him and His mighty name that our financial mess has not harmed our marriage but made it better- stronger. My husband and I realized that we had begun to rely too much on ourselves and not enough on each other and certainly not nearly, even close enough to relying on God to meet our needs. We had missed some of God’s most important lessons and I believe this was His way of knocking us over the head with the preverbal 2x4.

We sat down and poured over everything. My darling husband was most patient even though he was deeply hurt. He forgave me without even blinking an eye and we both sought the Lord in prayer together.

In a fairy tale this would be the part where something miraculous happens and all our debt is paid and we live happily, and much more financial savvy, ever after. Reality isn’t nearly so kind. We, to my utter shame, had to contact a Christian debt company to help us consolidate our debt into an amount we could reasonably pay. We had to lay our financial lives out in black and white and it was a most humbling experience. We are no longer able to tithe above our First Fruits. The debt company helped us set up a realistic budget and I did find joy in seeing that we would be able to continue tithing (other debt consolidation company’s do not factor in tithing). Every single cent is now accounted for and my husband and I work hard to hold me/us accountable. While we are diligent in paying off this debt- our credit score is in the toilet and often I am concerned about $emergencies$ as there are no emergency funds.

When I get low like this I remind myself that I put us in this mess and that God in His grace and mercy is seeing fit to find us a way out of it. Even though part of me wishes for the fairy tale- wand waving good-bye debt scenario I know it is not what we need and what will help us grow in the Lord. God does, indeed, know best. He teaches the bestest greatest lessons to us. In our weakness, He is strong. And while I know that I no longer have “rainy day” fund- I know who is in charge of the weather and that He has His best for me in mind (Jeremiah 29:11).

Continued in one more post- only 1 more I promise!

Hi

12:42 AM, 2006-Sep-26 .. Posted by marthaskitchen

I just wanted to say I am enjoying reading your posts on tithing. It's an interesting topic isnt it amongst Christian circles. Looking forward to reading your conclusion on the subject...
God bless
Helen

Oh, duh, here's part 3!

10:04 AM, 2006-Sep-26 .. Posted by deedee06

You mentioned credit card debt. My husband is a loan officer at a bank and he sees so much credit card debt. We both hate how seductive the credit card companies are and how easy it is for someone to get into serious debt. You're not alone in the situation and the Lord will bless your repentant heart!............Denise (prairiemom)