A Few Thoughts on Tithing

For a while now I’ve been wanting to write a post about my experiences paying tithing, but I keep putting it off. Tithing is an offering of one-tenth of your income to the service of God. You can read more about tithing - specifically in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - here.  

A few weeks ago it was my turn to teach Relief Society, and I was assigned the talk, “Think Celestial,” by President Russell M. Nelson. In the talk, the prophet briefly told of an experience he had with tithing. His wife brought to his attention that he hadn’t been paying tithing on a small monthly stipend he had been receiving as an intern. He immediately began paying the $1.50 a month tithing for that income. He said that becoming a full tithe payer changed him, and he attributes many professional opportunities to paying tithing. Reading the talk reminded me of my own testimony of tithing.

When I was young, I struggled to pay tithing. I really wanted to pay it, but I had a hard time handing over the money, and I often spent it first. As an older teenager preparing to go to the temple (hoping to marry Scotty when he got home from his mission), I set a goal to pay a full tithe - meaning 10% of my income. I met that goal and have stuck to it ever since. 

It can be hard to pay tithing. In Sunday school a few months ago, a man made a comment along the lines of, “If it feels like a sacrifice, you’re doing it in the wrong spirit.” I disagree. I don’t think the point of tithing is for it to not feel like a sacrifice. I think the point is to act on faith even when it feels like a sacrifice. 

The talk by President Nelson includes a footnote that states that the promise of paying tithing is that the windows of heaven will be open to the tithe payer, but the nature of the blessings are not all the same. President Nelson feels like he was blessed immensely in his career because of his choice to pay tithing. Scotty and I have experienced similar blessings that we attribute to paying tithing. Not all blessings of tithing present in monetary ways, but we have experienced a fair amount of financial security through paying our tithing. 

We have always had what we’ve needed even during times of employment struggles and financial difficulty.

Our money has, at times, stretched far beyond what it should have. On paper, our income often hasn’t been enough, but somehow it provides. 

We’ve had so many occurrences when something that we needed was made available to us at a low cost or free right when we needed it - things as simple as a pair of church shoes and bigger things like a box spring and mattress. 

We’ve been very blessed in our employment - every job change we’ve experienced has a tale of personal revelation behind it.

I’ve often thought that we have been blessed in financial ways for paying our tithing, but I’m just now realizing that the real blessing has been like the prophet said - the windows of heaven have been opened to us. We have been directed by the Spirit consistently in how to spend our money, where to go to find what we need, and when to make employment moves. Following that direction has helped us be able to live on what we have and make it stretch. 

Sometimes I think about everything we could do with that money if we kept it instead. Mathematically and logically, it would be so helpful. But I have the feeling it just wouldn’t be the same. I truly believe that we have been blessed for living the law of tithing. Consider me brainwashed or manipulated or whatever you will, but simply stated, it just works for us. 

It Was Cold and Rainy Today (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I am six eight days soda sober. Again. You know how I be. But last week I had a doctor appointment, and my blood pressure is high (still), so I’m being more diligent with my sobriety because reducing sugar and cutting caffeine are two of the 5,000 things I need to do to help lower my BP.

Fact #2: As always, when I stop drinking soda, I feel like there’s a huge void in my life. 

Fact #3: Lately I’ve lost interest in a lot of things. I haven’t read a book in several weeks. I tried to do a puzzle during General Conference, and I couldn’t. I haven’t really felt like blogging. The strange high I get from making a meal plan and grocery list has abandoned me. The thrift store holds no allure, and I haven’t been super interested in my garden (though I did get a crop of peas and onions started). 

I don’t feel like I’ve spiraled into depression, but I’m always attentive to my loss of interest in things just because it is such a telling symptom. I’m wondering if maybe I’m shifting the way I spend my time as a result of working. Now that I work, I have to use my time differently, so maybe I’m just prioritizing other things. 

Fact #4: I think yoga is a conspiracy. They almost had me convinced to lay in the floor in happy baby pose for five minutes until I realized how stupid I would look.

“Let’s tell them that if they lay on their back and hold their feet in the air, they can eliminate back pain!”

…my kid walks in on me doing happy baby pose and is traumatized for life…

Fact #5: On Friday night I surprised Scotty with tickets to see Come From Away. It’s currently one of his musical obsessions. We were on the front row, and in comparison to where we normally sit… wow! 

If you’ve never heard of it, it is about September 11th when the airspace closed, and all of the planes had to be grounded. It takes place in the town of Gander in New Foundland, where 38 planes landed and the town had to take in and house 7,000 displaced travelers. 

There’s a recording of the Broadway show on Apple TV.

Fact #6: The last three weekends in a row, Zoe and Eva have slept over somewhere for a night, and it has been really wonderful. 

They also continue sleeping in tents in the basement because it’s the closest they’ve come to having their own rooms.

Fact #7: Nicky asked me to make a poster for him to answer a girl who asked him to Senior Ball. I accidentally gave the minion a front bum.

Fact #8: When I was little, I referred to the female genitalia as the “front bum.” My mom’s bestie Gina often tells me about how I told her that babies come from the front bum. 

Fact #9: I also referred to breasts as “nursers.” Genius, right? To call them what they are?

Fact #10: I’m currently trying to stay awake until Nicky gets home. I have 25 more minutes til his curfew. I’m not gonna make it. 

Things the Kids Say: Episode 31

Me: Isn’t it nice having a clean room?

Daisy: No! It makes me feel like my life is empty. 

—————

Nurse at maturation class: When you go through puberty, you might get oily skin and pimples.

Zoe: Mom, you never finished puberty, did you?

—————

“Jesus got us falling in love again!”

-Eva singing Usher

—————

Daisy: [Crush] is sending me really weird texts.

Me: Well, we just have to remember… he is a 14 year old boy.

Daisy: But today he’s acting 8.

—————

“If I eat some clothes when I’m pregnant, will the baby still come out naked?”

-Eva

—————

“Mom? Do birds ever get constipated? Cause I kind of don’t think they do.”

-Eva

—————

Eva: What does the peace sign mean?

Me: Peace.

Eva: What does peace mean?

Me: No fighting.

Eva: That’s so cap.

—————

“I’m pretty sure I have perfect pitch.”

-Zoe, who does not have perfect pitch

 

Ten Photos From This Week With Zero Explanation

I’m Exhausted but Pretending I’m Not (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I’m quitting soda… today… again…

Fact #2: Our first tulip bloomed yesterday! Ours are always a little later than everyone else’s because they are in the shade. 

Fact #3: A couple of weeks ago I got a mysterious chunk stuck in my hair. I think my curling iron may have touched and melted something plastic, and then when I used it, it came off in my hair. I couldn’t get it out without ruining my hair (I won’t give you the list of things I tried, but it’s long). I ended up having it in my hair for over a week, and I just worked around it. Finally I went crazy and ripped it out. 

Fact #4: My in-laws have the creepiest basement. Wanna see?

Fact #5: I did a pick-up order at Walmart yesterday, and they gave me some free Dude Wipes. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about that.

Fact #6: I realize that’s a very unattractive photo of me, but I kind of don’t care. Allow me to explain my state of being: I’ve had terrible allergies this season, and my eyes have watered incessantly. Today I went make-up free and spent all day rubbing and wiping my eyes without care.

Fact #7: In my last post I shared a text message about our theory that our neighbor has a secret horse. 

It turns out, he’s dating someone who has a horse. But not just a horse… an entire farm, pretty much (also turns out, Scotty and I know his new girlfriend, and it’s a freakishly small world after all). 

BUT… with this animal-loving girlfriend has also come a few little perks: 

Secret Lamb

Secret goat

Fact #8: I’m always troubled when I find stuff like this on my walks:

At some point that was a perfectly good piece of pizza. What happened?

Fact #9: The other day on the way home from work I got hit with the biggest bird turd I’ve ever seen. I was on the freeway and just coming around a bend and about to merge when WHAM!!! It scared me to death, and I almost swerved into the barrier.

Took this at a stoplight a while later

Fact #10: I mentioned this recently, but I’m going to do it again. Lately I am realizing how blessed I am in friendship. I have such a strong circle of friends. It’s not a friend group, but a collection of individuals I love dearly (not that there’s anything wrong with a group, per se. It’s just not what I have). 

In my younger years, I measured friendship by the amount of social invitations I received. If no one was inviting me to do things, I perceived that as not having any friends. Now I view it differently. I rarely receive or extend social invitations, but I feel rich in friendship. It comes in different forms - quick little memes sent on messenger, treats shared, rides given to children, seats saved at events, packages grabbed off porches, or even waves from across a busy intersection.

Hey over there, Christie!

Sorry/Not Sorry

Me to my daughter: Slow down, there! You do not need to text your friends every single detail and thought that comes into your head!

Also me:

Spring Break 2024

This past week was spring break for our school district. I always struggle a bit when my kids are out of school. I wish that weren’t the case - it’s one of my greatest shames in motherhood, that I have a hard time managing my kids at home for long periods of time. I love them fiercely, but I get overwhelmed and overstimulated by them very easily. I had a couple of days this week where I about lost it, but I tried really hard to give my kids a decent spring break. It wasn’t anything super amazing, but we all survived it. 

Here are a few things that happened while the kids were out of school:

Nicky and Daisy performed at the high school dance concert

Daisy did two dances with her junior high dance company, and Nicky was in a partner dance with the high school dance company (it’s been pretty funny to see how often Nicky ends up in dance performances).

Nicky went to Disneyland for theatre and was gone over Easter. 

Bounding with his boys

We celebrated Easter.

We celebrated April Fools’. 

April Fools’ dinner

Zoe pranking me with a dish of “brown E’s”

I worked two days (this was a bit of a trial run to see how my kids would do at home without me).

We tried to fly kites, and it didn’t go very well.

Three minutes into the event 

We went on a DI shopping trip and then to Wheeler Farm.

We went to the pet store and didn’t buy a bearded dragon (or any other animals).

I went rock climbing with the Young Women (and by that I mean I sat in a bench and watched).

Zoe and Lydia

Nicky’s “not girlfriend” (who has “not” been his girlfriend for about a year and a half now) turned 16 while Nicky was in California. I was in charge of delivering 16 roses to her on her birthday. They tipped over while I was driving, and the water from the vase “glug, glug, glugged” all over the floor of my van where there happened to be a sweatshirt and jacket to absorb it all (perks of having a messy van this week).

We went to see Kung Fu Panda 4.

We went to the Manti temple open house.

While we were in the area, we made a surprise visit at my parents’ house to take my step-mom her birthday present. We got to see lots of animals between theirs and their neighbors’ homesteads. The highlight was the baby bunnies.

Dear little bunnies,

Please don’t be dead after we touched you

Zoe and Eva slept over at my mom’s house one night. The rest of spring break they slept in their own tents in our family room. They loved it because it’s the closest they’ve ever been to having their own rooms. I’m not opposed to making it a permanent arrangement.

Nicky and Zoe had orthodontist appointments, and Nicky officially graduated. No more orthodontist appointments for him unless he has an issue.

We did baptisms for the dead and then went to Red Robin for lunch.

We went on another DI shopping trip (since Nicky was in California for our first round). 

We listened to General Conference. 

We played lots of board games and watched some movies. 

When I look back at this post, it seems like we did so much! But even with all this, we endured hours and hours of boredom, and my kids spent way too much time on electronics. Zoe and Eva fought incessantly, and it felt like spring break was three months long. It ended with me being a bit of an emotional mess Sunday night.