Personal Progress Faith Value#7 How Tithing and Lilies Relate

Personal Progress Faith Value #7
How Tithing and Lilies Relate

When I struggle I often think of the scripture Mathew 6:28. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:"   I am reminded that I am being taken care of.
When I hope for miracles I often sing the beautiful song written by Roger Hoffman.  It's comforting and inspiring. The story that inspired his writing is magnificent. If you go to hoffmanhouse.com you can read the story and get copies of the music.

The payment of tithing is a common law in some religions and I have come to understand that the miracles that have occurred in my life can be attributed to the payment of such.   
Tithing has always been a fairly easy commandment for us. There have been times in my life, however, when we were rushing out the door and forgot the check. Or I didn't do the bills so the check wasn't written and then forgot the checkbook. You might say it's silly but it has happened so much that I have noticed a difference when we haven't turned it in. Paying our tithing forces us to pay attention to our budget. Again, you may say, that this is silly but It's easy to overspend if we are not paying attention. This is an obvious blessing in my life for I hate paying overdraft fees.
There are many ways I have learned as my schedule has become so full to make paying tithing easier.

Here are a few of them:
-Get in the habit of paying tithing first.
-Write the check and put it in envelopes that you have brought home and put in your scriptures or church bag. (I don't know how many times I have brought the check to church but was so busy during that I forgot to fill out the envelope. My husband is now Bishop so I fill the check and envelope out and put it in the Bishop's file that we have set aside for him at home giving me no reason for that excuse anymore.)
-You can mail them. (I'm surprised how many people do that.)
-You can have the money come out of your check automatically each paycheck. You don't hardly notice the 10 percent gone.
We have been blessed when we needed things:
-Coats were dropped off by the "coat fairy".
-A large collection of barely warn Vans that fit my two daughters and myself. (This blessing came 30 mins. after I prayed to Heavenly Father asking him to help me find a way to buy school shoes for my girls)
-Hand me Downs.
-A new bed mattress. (Our old one was scratching us because the wires were poking through.)
-$1,000 (the giver felt like he needed to give this to us without a return of it expected. I did not know until a few days later that I had made a big mistake in our budget and the money covered it.)
-ironing board.
-A box of socks and undies for the little ones.
-Food brought by when it seemed so desperate.
The list would be longer if I would only take the time.
I know that these things have been little and large blessings that have come because we have paid our tithing.
I realize that people struggle with paying tithing for various reasons. I don't know much about other peoples challenges in it but I do know that we have been blessed tremendously over the years for paying. Not every prayer or yearning financially has been granted but I can tell you that the majority of them have. To some these experiences might seem trite but to me they have shouted loudly the love that Heavenly Father has for me.