Ordinary Wonderment

Sundown, Bahr Rd., Burlington, IL, July 27th, 2010.

Today's Joy: A Big Day.

It's been a really big day, Reader. Though, I suppose it's the culmination of several seeds God planted weeks ago. Over the past 2 months I've been listening to Dave Ramsey & other sources discuss the benefits of tithing. I know how good giving to others can feel in my own life, so I can easily see how regular tithing would bring much fulfillment. But with my wonderful new job only being part-time and the bills far outweighing any extra income, I figured giving back 10% of my income was a ways off yet.

Still, I felt God nudging me. When the opportunity presented itself for me to have a charitable donation deducted from my paycheck, I immediately signed up. I chose to give to Compassion International. True, it was only a small sum each week, but it was that much more than CI had the week before. Plus I enjoy looking at my pay stub each week and seeing the donation total grow.

Fast forward to last week, when I signed up for my 401K. I read all about the plans my employer offers and took the little risk assessment included. Discovered that with a good 30 years or more to retirement and a certain comfort level with risk, I'm a good candidate for the moderate to aggressive technology-based funds. Now I'm set up with a balanced portfolio that includes stock in Microsoft, Apple, Google and Suncor Energy, among others. (How cool is that?) While figuring out how much income to contribute, it became apparent that in 30 years, 10% would yield almost $10K more than an 8% contribution in principal alone. A no-brainer, right?

I took a good look at how much 10% of my income was and thought again about tithing. That little nudging sensation was back again. So, I prayed about it that night and asked God to tell me if this is what He really wanted me to do, even with such a limited budget. Then I thought about my charitable donation and how I didn't even notice that extra bit of money being gone each week. I broke the 10% down into weekly amounts and divided it between my payroll deduction, my weekly church offering and a favorite radio station I've been thinking about supporting for quite some time. It would be really tight, but I could do it. So, I called HR and upped my donation. Then I made a commitment to God that I would do my 10% and trust in him to make sure I had enough to live on. I immediately felt SO good!

All of that brings us back around to today. I was at work this morning when my supervisor called to say that she wants to make my position full-time with more diverse responsibilities, which would mean full benefits as well as more hours. After only 6 weeks with the company! I immediately accepted and thanked her. When I got off the phone, I was almost in tears as I thanked God. The additional income will be more than enough to cover my 401K contribution as well as the amount I will tithe. It's so amazing how God works! He simply asked me to have faith in Him and as soon as I did, everything changed. Yup, definitely a big day. I feel so blessed!

Driving home along my favorite country back roads tonight, there was this spectacular sunset over misty cornfields, so I stopped and took a few shots. Hard to describe how full my heart felt. Can't wait to see what God will do next.