Windows of Heaven

I knew something must be wrong...

Pretty much every year since we've been married we have been blessed in extraordinary ways by generous people at Christmas time. I always felt unworthy and have cried many grateful tears for the service and sacrifice rendered to our little family. I've always had a strong impression that we were receiving these blessings because we were paying our tithing. My faith in the principle of tithing has intensified since the first blessed experience.

This year I kept waiting for something extraordinary to happen. Its not that I expected it, really, but I knew that those past experiences were a direct physical manifestation of the actions of our faith - so I hoped it might happen again. Christmas was fast approaching and we were scraping by as usual. No unexpected escrow refunds from the bank, no mysterious toys left in our car, no gift baskets. I knew something must be wrong.

A couple weeks before Christmas we went to tithing settlement and automatically declared ourselves full-tithe payers. Of course we were full-tithe payers. We always paid our tithing diligently. But as we were leaving the office and looking at the total amount, things just didn't add up.

A few days later I sat down and earnestly compared our tithing printout with our bank statements and check book. I couldn't believe it! Somehow we were missing FIVE payments. I double checked everything....Well, one check had ended up under Ashby's name. Phew. Another check had gone through the bank, but had been missed on our tithing statement. Phew. But there were still THREE missed payments. The missing dates lined up to around the time that we were in and out of town for Brian's dad's illness and funeral, plus all the life changes that come with that. So, okay, I guess that's why it was overlooked. But now we were in a real predicament!

Even though it would take about every penny we had in our savings and checking accounts, I knew that we needed to pay the full amount of tithing we owed right away. I felt very strongly that these missed payments were the reason this year was different from other years.

Wouldn't you know it. That same week that we emptied out our bank accounts we were able to be on the receiving end of anonymous generosity once again. I still can't believe the generosity!

It is truly amazing how the Lord watches over us. I know that He knows me and loves me. I know how the windows of Heaven are opened when we pay our tithing. The blessings come rolling in and there is not enough room to receive them. I strongly echo the phrase, "We cannot afford to NOT pay tithing."