I do believe in tithing

Maybe you've heard the stories of someone who pays their tithing and receives a check in the mail. It's happened to us. It was a nice check too, about $600 and was from an overpayment of funds. (this was awhile ago...) How often does that happen? I mean really, you've overpaid something and a company admits it and refunds you? I don't think it happens as often as it should. Would it have happened anyway? Maybe, but I don't think it was a coincidence. I think we needed to be shown in a big way that it pays to pay tithing.

Money has been tight since John got out of the Navy in 2008. However, we've made it work. We're still in our house, we have what we need. We put away a little at a time for the extras. It was so tight for awhile that we felt there was just no way we could pay our tithing. There wasn't any leftover. So we didn't. And guess what? It seemed to get worse. We seemed to have less money and things were tighter than ever.

Recently we had been in to talk to the Bishop and tithing was brought up. We explained that things were just too tight. We were told to pay our tithing first. We got back on the tithing train. It is amazing how it works out. We are paying our tithing AND having some money left over. Not a lot, but better than breaking even or worse. Not only that, but I have the last 3 tithing checks here and I'm noticing that each one is a little bit more than the last. Meaning?  Somehow John is getting paid a little bit more each week since we started paying tithing. I should also mention that we've also had an opportunity to make some extra cash. We even had enough money to pay John's speeding ticket!

The secret to successful tithing paying? Pay your tithing first. If you don't think you can afford to, just try it, really give it a chance and believe in it. In reality, you can't afford not to! Try it for 4 weeks straight if you get paid weekly, or try it for a few months if you're paid every 2 weeks or monthly. Then come back and tell me what happened.

I can be spiritual, but I don't like being "churchy" or preachy. This is just one of those things that are too good to keep to yourself. It truly is a blessing. Share the blessing, no matter what religion you are. Help your church and you will be blessed as well. It's really not a lot to ask compared to all that God has given us.

Happy Friday! Have a rockin-awesome weekend!

Tis the season to get sick

I hate all the crap that's going around. You've got the flu, croup, the common cold, some sort of stomach virus, etc. I hate how it can recirculate. I've avoided church for the past few weeks for this reason.
I had a cough, it sounded nasty, I believe it was croup. I would wake up in the middle of the night choking; gasping for air. It was scary as hell.  I hoped and prayed that my husband and children wouldn't get it. Luckily they didn't. Even after the cough went away, I'd still wake up choking for about a week or 2. (not every night, but maybe once or twice a week)

Right now a few of us have the sniffles. Not too bad in comparison! I'm still cautious to be around too many people. I hate to be in a vulnerable stage and catch something. We did go to church today, but Jessie and I came home after sacrament.

I was saddened to learn that a family in the ward/neighborhood lost their little boy (3 yrs old) to croup this weekend. I don't know all the circumstances, only that he had Croup and stopped breathing. There were not many dry eyes at church today, but the love for this family could be felt. John (my husband) was holding Jessica's (our 6 year old) hand and I know what he was thinking/feeling. How easy it can be to take our little ones for granted when we get caught up in the chaos of everyday life. How precious they are to us. I can't imagine losing a child.

:(