Financial Giving

Ever felt like you wanted to give to God financially, but felt like you couldn't or shouldn't? You aren't alone. Check out Dana (& Tom's) story and what they've learned about giving in the past year:

"Tom and I were DINKS---- dual income, no kids. We were pretty happy with that lifestyle and we were pretty sure we would never have kids. In May 2005 we bought a fixer upper home that needed a lot of work. In August 2005---we had an unplanned pregnancy. Ian's arrival was a path we never expected to go down and when we found out about his medical issues we were thrown into a whole new world.

Babies are expensive----but when you add in daycare, medical insurance, and the doctors visits/ surgeries/ medications------we quickly fell into a very large debt trap.

Over the 3 and a half years of his life we have had to work insane amounts to keep our heads above water. At one point his medications alone were over $250 a month. Tom pulls as much over time as possible and takes triple calls but there have been months that we didn't know how we were going to make it. Mac and cheese and spam were staple meals and considered gourmet if we had a slice of American Cheddar to add in.

We thought about selling our home----but being a fixer upper we haven't had the money to improve it. We also have had to use what little equity we had to pay day to day bills----so selling really isn't an option. Plus, rent would probably be what the mortgage is and we would never ever be able to afford a home in this area again ( we lucked out on the fixer up part).

We have volunteered as much as possible through church as a way to give back to God. When you asked everyone who considered Cnx their home church to commit to participating financially in 2009--- I was thrown for a tailspin.

We were keeping our heads just above water----how could I add another bill? Tom and I prayed separately on it and Tom said it was something we needed to do. I showed him on paper----there was no way to make it work. We prayed some more and finally decided that this was a trust issue and we had to give the control back to God.

We committed to a small amount each month. It probably wouldn't seem like much to some people but to us it was huge. In the 8 months that we have been giving our offering----we haven't missed it at all.

As state workers, we both were furloughed and lost a percentage of our income with little notice. That month I considered not giving but wrote the check and prayed as I tossed it in the offering bucket. We made it just fine.

I am amazed that we seem to have more money at the end of the month than we did before giving. I know part of it is the envelope system, and being more aware----but I also know it is because God will provide.

Tom and I took a leap of faith in August and decided to double our tithe---and here it is 3 days before pay day and we are still okay. We are planning to double the original amount from now on because it's all about putting our trust in the father above."