Challenge # 14 October 20. 2010 - October 27, 2010

Proverbs 31:15-16 “She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.”


Verse 16: “She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.”

I planted my first garden this summer. Scary I know! I have never in my life kept anything non-human alive long enough to bloom, so I knew me planting a garden was going to be interesting! I blame it on the pregnancy hormones and the need to nurture something; and the thought of feeding my children amazing homegrown veggies was a plus. It was also a plus that we could save some money by canning some veggies for the winter, and eating out of the garden in the summer.

My first step was research. The search for a great informative book on what in the world I was supposed to do, since the extent of my green thumb started with watering, and ended with exposure to the sun. After that it was time to prep, plant, water, and wait! Prepping the soil was the hardest part! In the book it didn’t seem too hard you just took 1/3 of vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost, mixed them together and put them in your garden. But boy I tell you, the mixing was painful! We had dust flying and pieces of stuff in our hair, and the thought that I was mixing manure up with my hands made me gag! After I planted my seeds, I checked on them daily, watering and waiting, weeding and chasing off squirrels with my fake Owl. Then at the end of a long two week wait, they started to bud, and grow. After two months or so we started to reap a harvest! After all that hard labor, nurturing, feeding and manure kneading, we had an overflow of salad, green beans, strawberries, and other fresh veggies!

Half way through the summer, I had our baby girl and stopped giving to my garden. I didn’t have the time to weed, water, and spend time nurturing it the way I did before, and our harvest died out. It no longer produced veggies or fruits like it did in the past. Every now and then we’d get one bean, or one strawberry but not enough to feed a family of 6. I just couldn’t invest in it as much as I did before and eventually, we reaped NOTHING!

For a lot of people the subject of Money and God together is a sore subject. I never really got that because didn’t God make money? I teach my 4 year old that God makes everything, every toy they get God provided for them, every job we have God provides for us, and every cent of money that is earned God is entrusting to us to be wise with.

In my opinion the wisest investment you can make with your money, would be to tithe! What is funny is that if you have ever listened to, or read any Susie Orman books, or Dave Ramsey books; the one thing they all say (Christian or not) is to give away 10% of your money to a charity, organization, church etc because when you give it will come back to you!

Years ago I was in a bad relationship with someone who didn’t really want to live by God’s principals. I wanted to tithe and he thought it was stupid to tithe! So for years I did not tithe because of this. Finally when I broke away from him, I decided that the first thing I was going to change in my new life was tithing. I had a new apartment, but wasn’t sure I could afford all the bills that came with it. I also knew I needed to “give back to God what was God’s”. So I sat down one evening to do my first week of bills for my new place. I took out my check book, wrote out my tithe and prayed over it. I went on to paying the rest of my bills, and when I was all out of money, I had three bills that were left unpaid, and only about $10.00 left in my bank account for the next 2 weeks! It costs me 40.00 a week in gas alone just to get to work, so I began to panic. I knew I had that amount in tithe that I could withhold, so I kept that in the back of my mind.

The next day was Sunday, and I just happened to be singing my first solo in the choir that morning. They always passed the offering plate to the choir before the service started and as it was coming in my direction I froze. Knowing I was giving away the end of my money for two weeks, no groceries, and no gas money suddenly made me nauseous! So I gripped my check tight, whispered “Lord you know my needs bless this money!” and dropped it into the offering plate in slow motion.

When the service started I took a deep breath and came forward to deliver my solo. Then when it was time for the message, it was about DOUBT! He talked about how everyone doubts God, even Christians. He asked if anyone was having problems with doubting God to come forward to get prayed for. I thought “well there is no way I’m going up there and having everyone see I was just singing and I doubt God, how embarrassing!” But at that moment the entire first two rows of people in the choir walked down to be prayed for….so I just crept in the back of them! We were told to all line up across the front. Then I heard Pastor shout, “YOU!” I looked up and that finger was pointing RIGHT AT ME! He says, “Come up here!” Oh boy I’ve really done it now!! He says, “you were up here ministering and praising God, but yet you are now down there asking for prayer because your doubting? See even ministers can doubt God sometimes, I doubt God sometimes!” Then he says “would you mind sharing with us what you are going through?” I said, “Well, I’d just gotten out of a marriage where I was cheated on and abused, I’m going through a divorce and starting a new life and it’s just really hard to trust that God is going to provide for me what I need.” Then when I was through he asked me to step down to get prayed for.

As I went back to my spot in line a man came to me and asked to pray for me he said “I’ve been there, God blessed me and now he will bless you” and then he handed me a check for $100.00!! Already in that moment God showed me he was bigger than my fears, bigger than my $10.00 in my bank account and BIGGER than the tithe I had given that morning. But he didn’t want to stop there, I had a line of people handing me money! It was all so overwhelming and the power of God was so strong in that place that I almost couldn’t catch my breath! After the line of people was gone, I gathered myself and my things and headed to the door. Just when I thought God could do no more, he decided to show off a bit and prove to me beyond any doubt that he WAS my provider. I heard foot steps running up behind me and a man yelling “MA’AM, MA’AM!” I turned to see a plain looking older man who I’d never seen before. He says “I know where you are, I know where you’ve been and I’ve been there too, please take this small blessing so that God will bless me too." And he handed me a check. I didn’t look at the check but took it and thanked the man for the blessing. I got to the car, opened the check and it read $500.00!! I left church that Sunday with over $656.00, 10x the amount of my tithe! From that day on, my first and most important investment has become my tithe! You see when you invest in something, just like the garden, you will have an abundance of blessings come out of it.

Luke 6:38 says “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Got time for one more story?

After I had my first baby and returned to work, I decided it was too agonizing to leave my baby with someone else all day long. My husband and I both desired to be able to raise her ourselves instead of letting someone else do it for 8 hours a day. (Not that that is bad, it’s just our own desires) Problem was I was making more money than him at the time and that was our MAIN income! We prayed and prayed, about it and finally felt peace that I should just step out in faith and quit! I gave my notice that week and kept doubting wondering if I’d made a mistake, I mean after all we were loosing at least 60 if not 70% of our income!

The next Sunday our pastor’s wife was teaching about tithing. She told a story about how she was given 5-5 gallon buckets of laundry detergent when her 4 children were young. She was convicted to give two of those buckets to their youth pastor at church, which she did. She said ever since then God has always blessed her with laundry detergent! She would get to the bottom of her 5lb bucket and the next Sunday there was one waiting for her in the lobby of the church with her name on it, one time in the trunk of her car. And then when they moved to our church, one of the members who owned a business and gave her FREE laundry detergent for LIFE!

Upon hearing this story the Lord started speaking to my heart he said “increase your tithe from 10% to 15%!” haha! Me, “WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY! I JUST QUIT MY JOB!” Again “INCREASE YOUR TITHE TO 15%, I WILL SUPPLY YOUR NEEDS!” And that is what we did!

The first year of my daughter’s life, we never bought a diaper but they were all given to us! 4 years and 4 kids later, on the same income, we do not often have to buy clothes, they are all given to us! We’ve never missed a bill, and we’ve never been hungry. We’ve prayed for a new kitchen floor when we had water damage and ended up with an entire new $14,000.00 kitchen for free, we prayed for a new fridge and ended up with a free new fridge.

I’m not sharing these things with you for pity, or to expose our family, but so that you can see that when you invest in God, he will invest in you! With the economy the way it has been the last few years, I know several people who’ve lost their retirement, and other investments. The only investment that is guaranteed is the one into God’s kingdom.

So ladies your challenge this week is to review and re-invest your money wisely! Are you tithing? If not then just do it! If you don’t have a home church you go to find a ministry that has blessed you and give back to it so they can bless others. If you are already tithing, maybe pray and ask God if you are giving the amount he wants you to give?

Make sure to head over to the discussion forum on the facebook page. Feel free to share with us your convictions on the subject, questions, concerns, or even praises and blessings. Also, please share this ministry with your friends by posting a link on your facebook page. You never know whose marriage you might save or whose life you will change!

Prayers, love and blessings this week!

Challenge #13 October 7-October 14, 2010

Proverbs 31:15-16 "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard."

Last week we all adjusted our bedtime so that we can fit in some of that "ME" time that is so much needed. But what did you actually do with those extra hours or minutes that you had?

One thing I've noticed in my walk with Christ is that sometimes he can have the worse timing! I can't tell you how many times I've been praying over something and he will give me a dream and wake me up in the wee hours of the night. One time I recall in particular the Lord woke me up for two weeks straight at 4am every morning, wanting me to seek Him! I'd lay back down and try to fight Him on it, but he would make my spirit so restless I couldn't even lay in bed. I had to get up!! What is it about God and the morning? Why does he have to be such an early bird?!

It makes me think of the hymn "In the Garden" I'm not a hymn person by any means but this is one of my favorites!
"I walk in the Garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.
And the voice I hear falling on my hear, the Son of God discloses.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing
But the melody that he gave to me, within my heart is singing."

That sums it up for me! In the morning, it's quiet the birds are singing, dew still on the ground everything is fresh and renewed. And that is the time for us to be fresh and new as well. This picture of "morning" reminds me of the first day after God created the earth and all that is in it. He looked around and said "it is good!"
There is nothing like waking up in the cool of the day and seeking the Lord first thing.

My husband has been in ministry since we first were married. We've been through a lot of things and seasons. I remember in the beginning when we were serving, we got so burnt out on being there so much, and giving so much. We never had the time to receive from the Lord ourselves! It became such a dry season for us. Until finally we were able to take that break and spent time with the Lord. Cause you see, You can't fill up an empty glass if the pitcher is empty as well! You can share your knowledge but what good is knowledge if it's not accompanied by the Holy Spirit? Even Satan knows the bible. How are you going to pour into those beautiful children of yours or friends, or family members if you are empty!

In our verse this week it says "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." This doesn't always have to be a PHYSICAL food, but it can be a spiritual food! In order to provide food it must be planned, prepared, mixed up, flavored, and baked in order to seal that flavor. Same with us. In order to provide others with spiritual food we must plan to get up early, prepare to study, let God mix it up in our hearts so we can be Salt & light, and then sprinkle and shine on everyone the rest of the day!

So Ladies your challenge this week is to Seek the LORD, ask him for a new and refreshing touch of his Spirit. Ask him to help you to pour into your family this week the things he is speaking to your heart!

Make sure to join us in the discussion forum on our facebook page and let me know what God did for you this week!

Also make sure to post a link to our facebook page on yours and invite friends to join...you never know whose marriage you might save!