2013: Give More
I am not rich.
My husband and I make a modest salary between the two of us.
We've been crawling out of credit card debt since 2009.
Next month, I am happy to say, WE ARE DONE.
The credit card debt we've carried since moving from IL to PA, after losing a ton from the sale of our house, will be NO MORE.
What does this mean?
Well, while we've been tithing my husbands salary, I have not exactly been tithing mine consistently.
This year, 2013, God has spoken very clearly. I will:
- TITHE my weekly salary every Sunday.
- SAVE $12,000 by the end of the year.
- GIVE over what I've tithed. Without overly thinking about it. Random acts of giving. Financially.
Those are big goals. But guess what I've done to help me reach them?
- I announced them on this blog.
- I announced them to the team of people with whom I work.
- I asked two women with whom I meet every week, to hold me accountable. And, strangely enough, we meet to pray on Thursdays - my pay day. I'm thinking I'll just bring my checkbook and write my tithe check right in front of them.
I'm serious.
I've never felt like I could help like this.
That was weak thinking, for God is the provider, not my business.
I'm ready.
Joline Atkins is your server today! Find out more about her here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
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Happy ReNEW Year!
Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us, "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and the streams in the wasteland."
That's good stuff.
On January 15 of last year, I shared the following blog-votional with you about taking on challenges.
Why share it with you again? Because 2012 was a great year for me. Only, this morning, while reading the verse in Isaiah, I realized that NEW, for me, means I can not linger and lean on the accomplishments and successes of 2012, but rather, I must challenge myself NOT to rest on laurels. What seemingly unimaginable experiences God has in store for this year? I read "forget the former things" as a challenge for me to look ahead to what God would have in store for me THIS YEAR, rather than relying on what has already become.
And, once again, I will surround myself with accountability partners to do so. Advisers. Challengers. Encouragers.
What's on your plate for 2013? Are you trying to go it alone???? Or have you chosen wise men and women to walk with you on your journey?
Joline Atkins is your server today! Find out more about her here and don't forget to sign up for updates by email or RSS before you go.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
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