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.

Golden Spiria

Today's Joy: Doing Good Things For Others.

I love it, Reader, when the lessons we learn at church on Sunday morning about God and giving and loving one another spill over into the rest of the day. Today's message was the third installment of Dave Ramsey's video series on biblical finance. It was about giving and the power inherent in wise & thoughtful stewardship of the resources God has placed in our care.

The gist is this: no matter how you slice it, everything belongs to God. The earth, the animals, us, all of our talents and resources--we don't truly own any of it. Everything we have is on loan from God. He has lent us gifts, skills, funds and the breath in our bodies to complete his work. So, in not managing our money and resources properly, we are, in essence, misusing what God has provided. We are not being good stewards.

That is powerful stuff. If it all belongs to God, who are we to deny giving? Who are we to choose not to help others--when He has clearly given us the means to do so? And how could we ever manage His resources effectively if every month we have to choose between paying bills or feeding our families? I keep thinking about the difference I could make in the lives around me if only I didn't have debt hanging over my head. Oh, the ways I could serve if I weren't living paycheck to paycheck!

I left the service this morning and went directly to Mom's house to help her remove the ancient evergreen bushes from her front yard. After attempting to pull them out via truck-power, we resorted to sawing off the limbs and then digging out the stumps. God took pity on our poor, out-of-shape bodies and sent us Joel, the neighbor across the street. A stone mason and very kind soul, he spent the rest of the morning helping us dig out all 9 thick-rooted bushes. In return, he asked only that we help if he ever has a project that needs doing. Tomorrow, I will also bake him some cookies.

It was so inspiring to see this man out there in the sun, sweating and wrestling those bushes out of the ground for people he doesn't even know. What a blessing he was to us.

In the afternoon, we took all the project refuse out to the burn pile at our family farm. While there, I helped Aunt Chef prep some window boxes for her lovely flowers. The family seemed tired from working on the farm all day so I also volunteered to make dinner for everyone. Whipped up grilled chicken with a special marinade and my favorite homemade mac & cheese. It was a simple way to give and gave me great pleasure in the process.

Today was full of hard work, sunburn and big revelations. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Hope this gets your neurons firing, Reader. How can you be a better steward of the gifts and assets that God has provided in your life? What could you do if you weren't hampered by financial constraints?