Just some thoughts. Concerns? Maybe.

Suppose you know this girl who is learning to leave things up to God's will rather than her own (she is very willful, so this has been difficult). Suppose that, despite the fact that she's been fairly concerned about life and money and such lately, she decided a few weeks ago to start living by the 10-10-80 financial plan. You know, tithe ten percent, save ten percent, live off of 80. And she has never really "tithed" before, maybe just a few dollars in the offering plate (or bag) here and there. This is going to be a big (albeit responsible and grown-upish) change, remember, she is leaving it up to God.

So after tithing a few times, and taking a look at what she is saving, this girl realizes that if she continues this pattern she will have enough money to pretty much pay for her wedding a year and a half from now. She gets a "cost of living raise" (definition: three extra dollars per paycheck. Every little bit counts.) She gets a response regarding a scholarship that she is usually rejected for outright, and learns some exciting information about some possible tuition reimbursement from her job. And she is very thankful for all these things.

But one evening, she's sitting at home thinking about herself in the third person, and she realizes that she didn't tithe this paycheck. And she probably spent the portion of her paycheck that should have gone to church in that plate (or that bag).

Is she crazy for wondering, in some dark, tiny corner of her mind, if God is going to be thoroughly disappointed in her lack of commitment to this new concept of tithing, and, say, cause her car to break down? Because she definitely couldn't afford to deal with that.

I am thankful that I serve a loving, forgiving, and selectively forgetful God. And also that August is a three-paycheck month. ^_~