In the late summer of 2015, our family experienced a series of major, life altering changes. The last week of August, I lost my job. A week later, my husband closed the gym we owned. Suddenly, we had no income, and we owned a building and land that weren’t generating income either. And then, an answered prayer - we found someone to lease the building. And then, serendipitous timing - after three years, my father’s estate cleared probate and we found ourselves with enough cash to keep things afloat.

Keeping things afloat generally means stripping away any extras, but we knew that giving at church couldn’t be an ‘extra’. Despite a limited income, we knew that we had to make a commitment to giving. For us, it was important to make a pledge, and not just give weekly whatever was leftover. We even set up a bank draft to help us keep that commitment. 

Now it’s a year later, and our employment situation is still not fully resolved. But we are ready to make that pledge again. With a job prospect on the horizon, we’re also planning on increasing that pledge. We’re not at a 10% tithe, but we know that by increasing our giving incrementally each year, we’ll get there.

Over the course of this year, we’ve learned that giving is possible, even in a less than ideal situation. We trust that God will take care of us and we’re willing to make that commitment. And we’ve found that the example our parents gave us about giving is something we’d like to carry on. As parents, it’s important that we show our children that God is always our first priority. We are so thankful for His many blessings, and we give in thanksgiving!