MM: Tithing and a Family Reunion

I mentioned in my last blog entry that we were pretty stressed about money, but that we had faith and paid our tithing to the Lord. I forgot to mention that Grig's employment offers unemployment on weeks off. We thought we were going to get an unemployment check from a previous week off, but when Grig went in to talk to them, they told him that he wasn’t going to get that money after all. They said you had to have an unpaid week (which we had already had) and then, if you had another week of unemployment in the same quarter, you would get paid for it. However, they said that the last week was in a different quarter and we wouldn’t be paid for it. That was very frustrating. We felt like the job opportunity was the answer to that, and we'd be able to pay our bills after all. We felt exceedingly blessed and felt that this was the answer to our prayers.

A week and a half ago, we went to go on my mother's family reunion. We were going to carpool, but then Grig got work off on Thursday too, and he got home too late to drive with those we were going to carpool with. So, some kind family members gave us some gas money. That was our second blessing of tithing.

The reunion was a lot of fun, and I had the opportunity to write a Reader’s Theater for it.

It went really well, and all my actors did a great job. That was one of my highlights of the reunion.

Another point was when all 60 of us were singing together. That was really nice. The harmonies were awesome, and the Spirit was really strong. I’m so grateful I was able to go to the reunion. There was animal taxidermy everywhere, and the kids really enjoyed looking at those.

Kevin on a moose (statue).

We had a couple funny stories. The first night we arrived, we were told that we were sleeping upstairs with Amy and Ryan. When we got upstairs we were a bit confused. There were two couches, a television, and two twin beds. They may have even had slightly less width than twin beds. They were pretty small. Grig and I looked around, and decided that we were supposed to use one of the twin beds. That night, all three of us, including Kevin, slept on the tiny bed. It was a tight squeeze, and the whole night my arm dangled off the side. We slept alright, though the next morning my arm was numb.

The view of the lake from our cabin

When we went down for breakfast, we talked to everyone for a while, and then we were talking about how we slept. We were trying not to complain, because we were glad to have a bed at all, but it came out that we’d been really squished all night. Then someone asked about the hide-away beds.

Confused, I didn’t know what they were talking about. It was then revealed that the couches each had a queen-sized hide-away bed inside. We’d slept on the twin beds for no good reason!

It was pretty funny.

The next funny thing that happened was at Bear Lake. Kevin had been pretty happy until we took him into deeper water, then he got cold and grumpy. After cuddling for a while, he allowed me to bury him in sand up to his neck. He was pretty happy, until I spotted something.

Kevin and friends

There was a large spider on top of the sand on his leg. It had at least an inch long body, and was huge! I pointed it out to Kevin. Usually he loves spiders and cries when we leave them, so I was expecting a positive reaction.

Unfortunately, at the moment that Kevin spotted the spider, it took off running toward his face! He screamed and exploded out of the sand.

He was sad for a while after that, and then he recovered and played in the water again. By the end, he didn’t want to leave.


On the last full day, we went on a hike. Grig and I ended up far behind everyone else.

Grig took this picture. Neat, right?

Family pic

As we neared the end of our walk, we heard a very distinctive sound. Happily, we soon spotted a nearby raven. Grig loves ravens, and that made the whole hike worth it for him.

We had a great time at the reunion, and it was kind of sad to leave.

We got home from the reunion, and checked our mail as we packed to leave the next day for work in Idaho. To our surprise, we found two checks in the mail from Grig’s parents. Here was the third blessing from tithing. They told Grig that they had felt impressed to send the money.

Then, when we went to look at our bank account, we found that there was another large sum of money that had been put into our checking. We didn’t know what it was from, but when we looked it up, we saw that it was the unemployment check that they told Grig he wouldn’t be receiving. The fourth blessing of tithing.

When all was said and done, we not only had enough for all of our bills, but we were going to be building back up our savings by the end of the month. That was a huge blessing. Tithing works, and it is amazing. Indeed it is as the Lord said in Malachi 3:10:

 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and 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. 

We worked all week in Idaho, and had a great time working with family and we're grateful that they were kind enough to pay us for our efforts. I have a testimony of tithing, and I'm so grateful for the blessings that we were given.

Mormon Monday: Why Do Mormons Pay Tithing?

Tithing is an ancient principle.

It goes back to the law of Moses, and even further past that to Abraham.  (Gen. 14:20 (18–20); Mal. 3:10 (8–10), Nehemiah 10:37)  We believe tithing is an eternal principle as well.

The concept is simple.  God has given us everything.  All he asks is a tenth of our increase in return.  In ancient times, this tenth was usually given in the form of livestock.  The Levites, who did not have a  land of inheritance of their own, would sacrifice part of this offering in a symbolic manner that was to prepare the minds of the Israelites to prepare for Christ, and then the rest was used to feed the Levite families.  None of the sacrifice was wasted and it was treated as a sacred offering.  

Today, we usually use money because that is now how we calculate increase and Christ fulfilled the law of Moses, ending sacrifice by the shedding of animal blood.  Now, instead we are asked to give our hearts to him.  Tithing is a way that we do that.  

Tithing is treated in a very sacred manner by our church.  We do not have a paid clergy.  Thus, tithing doesn't go to line anyone's pocket. The committee who decides how to use the funds are very aware of the widow's mite (meaning that some people have hardly nothing and still do their best to pay tithing).  They carefully and prayerfully consider where the funds from tithing should be used and how best they will build of the Kingdom of God. This money is God's money and should be used as such.  Thus, often the funds go to help build churches and temples in places where the people wouldn't be able to afford to build one otherwise.  Some of the funds go to help latter-day-saint youth with their schooling.  

The heads of our church do not get rich on our tithing.  In fact, they never see a penny of it. 
If you want more information on where our tithes go, here is a link.

However, it is not really a sacrifice for the saints.  The Lord never requires anything of his people without giving them great blessings in return.  As is promised in Malachi 3:10-12:

 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and 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.

 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

There are some pretty awesome blessings there, and I can promise that the Lord never lies.  If He says He will do something, it is going to happen. 

I have experienced the blessings of tithing on numerous occasions.  When Grig and I were married, we decided we didn't want to wait to have children.  We felt very strongly that we weren't supposed to wait.  So, we weren't very surprised when a short time later we found out we were pregnant.  We were both working part-time jobs and going to school full-time, but we felt as though everything was going to be okay.  (Not just okay, we were super thrilled!)

We both paid our tithing each week and tried our best to keep the rest of the commandments.  We carefully saved our money and did our best to be frugal with the rest of it.  

When I gave birth to Kevin, it was a very difficult birth, and I ended up having to have a c-section.  For those of you who don't know, c-sections are quite expensive.  However, somehow in the next two months, we paid off all of our hospital bills.  We did have insurance, but it only covered part of the cost.  I still don't know where the rest of the money came from, but I do know to give credit to my Father in Heaven and I know it was a direct blessing from paying our tithing.  When we follow his commandments, He blesses us. Sometimes we don't recognize the blessings, but they are still there.

Tithing may seem difficult to pay, but it really isn't.  Everything we have is from the Lord anyway, so why would it be a sacrifice to give it back to him?  Especially when he returns it ten-fold?

I know tithing is a principle of the Lord and that He is mindful of our sacrifices.  I have felt the hand of the Lord in my life as I have lived this commandment.  It has brought great blessings to our family.  We are grateful for the law of tithing.