Personal Blessings From Paying An Honest Tithing

When I was laid off, one of the things that Joe and I decided was that no matter what, we would pay a full tithing. Our reasoning was how could we expect the Lord to look after us monetarily if we couldn't pay him just 10% of what we got. After all, the Lord himself said "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it"(Mal. 3:10). What would be the harm in putting the Lord to the test and see if he would deliver?

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "We can pay our tithing. It is not so much a matter of money as it is a matter of faith. I have yet to find a faithful tithe payer who cannot testify that in a very literal and wonderful way the windows of heaven have been opened and blessings have been poured out upon him or her".

I can truly testify that this is all true as we have had it shown in our own personal life in so many ways over the past few months. I have been calling them "many, mini miracles" and I know it has been because of paying a full tithing.

- Joe has not had any medical emergencies since the first part of January;

- Because I was laid off, we were able to be approved for special financial circumstances from the hospital and I've been able to pay off all of Joe's medical expenses;

- Joe has been referred for evaluation to be placed on the national kidney transplant list;

- I've gone in to purchase medications for Joe and been told there was no charge;

- We received a letter in the mail recently stating that all of his medications are either $2.50 or $6.30 only;

- Joe's monthly disability check has been increased almost $100 per month;

- I had someone call me wanting me to work as a temporary, part-time person for them until I found full-time employment. I make my hours and come and go as I wish.

- I've gone to have my car run through the washer only to find it was broken and was then given a certificate for a free car wash at a later date;

- We made a trip to Denver to the University of Colorado hospital to meet with the transplant team. While there we stayed two nights, ate several meals, had extra gas expense with no financial strain.

- We made a trip to Cheyenne to see an eye specialist the next week with a one night stay, a couple of meals and gas expense with no financial strain.

- I've had all the brakes on my car replaced and was able to pay for all of the expenses of several hundreds of dollars in a matter of days;

- Joe has had eye surgery done on his left eye which has improved his vision considerably. He had been told earlier by another eye doctor that nothing could be done for him. He was going blind.

- Joe went to the dentist for the first time in several years and was pronounced not to have any cavities;

- We were told by the dental clinic that our portion of Joe's x-rays and cleaning would be approximately $130.00. When it came time to pay, we were told they had made a mistake and there was no charge.

- We have received miscellaneous refund checks in the mail that were totally unexpected;

- Thought I was getting a flat tire. Instead it was a unrepairable hole and I was given a new tire free of charge since my tires were still under warranty.

- Three weeks after the installation of new brake system, something broke while in town and this was repaired free of charge due to warranty.

- I've averaged at least one job interview every week as I've had two sometimes in a week.

- I've had other auto work done and was given a reduced rate on that when I came to pick up the car.

- Joe became eligible for a program that will pay for all of his transportation costs to any place he wants to go for whatever reason. So all bus tickets are now free for him. It will also pay our mileage should we need to go out of town for medical reasons.

There are so many other things that I can't recall at this moment and I'm quite certain there are so many more things that I'm not even aware of that we've been blessed by. I believe that the Lord has truly been opening up the windows of heaven onto us. Whether some of these economic changes end when I go back to work, I just know that they are helping us now during this time of unemployment.

President Hinckley also said that "The Lord will open the windows of heaven according to our need, and not according to our greed" and our needs are definitely being met at this particular time.