This is my story

My story…

This week we launched into our series on what it means to be stewards of what God gives to us for the transformation of the world.

I got to share my story of giving. I was a college student helping to start a new church outside of Tampa. We met in a warehouse, we borrowed chairs and we worked really hard to make sure our neighborhood knew that God loved them. One Sunday we talked about tithing and I felt in my soul a need to truly participate in the work of the church.

I helped set up, I helped make coffee, I handed out bulletins and yet I still felt a need to give more.

So I checked my bank account.

Big mistake.

I saw $20 reflected back at me and thought, “how long until the next round of scholarship money gets deposited?”

Three months.

But my conviction grew. So I wrote a check (lol) for $2 (bigger lol).

As I dropped it in the plate I thought, “how in the world is this going to make a difference?”

And then I thought, “how am I going to fill up my gas tank?”

As the weeks went on, my gas tank got emptier, my meal plan at school began to run out and I started to think that my sacrificial gift was a big, dumb mistake. And then I thought about the miracle of the widow and Elijah. A widow gave the last of what she had to support the work of God’s Kingdom and she was provided for.

The very same thing happened to me. When the next scholarship payment showed up in my bank account, I didn’t have a negative balance. And I didn’t have an empty gas tank. How? I don’t know. I’m sure there was a logical explanation, but I have decided to call it a miracle, because it felt like a miracle to me.

We are in miraculous times as a church. We are showing our neighborhood we love them. We are reaching across oceans into Cuba with the love of Christ. We are supporting the parents, teachers, students, and faculty of our local elementary school.

It is a miracle!

As we continue our exploration of what it means to follow Christ faithfully in the coming weeks, we of course need to follow faithfully with our finances. Of course Christ wants to redeem all of us— why would our money be excluded?

Join me, won’t you, in exploring what it means to be faithful and to see the world with abundance?