“Money has always been an issue in my life. I grew up feeling I didn’t have enough. It’s made me stingy. I’ve never practiced tithing. My parents said it wasn’t nessecary. “You’re a kid. You have to save for college. You barely have anything to your name.” So I always used that as an excuse not to give. My boyfriend and I have been talking a lot about giving. To say it in short, after looking at the Bible and the lives of people around me, I realized that I’ve been holding too tightly to my money and God wants me to give. So I started tithing 10%, which felt hard to do because every penny counts for college. But simply by giving that small portion of what I had into the basket last weekend, I felt so much lighter. This week I was driving a new friend home from school, who doesn’t know God yet, and I felt him saying “stop and buy her coffee”. Though I had a limited amount of money on my debit card and was pressed for time, I did it anyways (mostly because I would get coffee out of the deal too). When we went up to the cashier she stood back as I paid for mine and began to pull out her wallet anticipating her turn. I laughed and said “no girl I’m paying for your’s too!” And she was shocked “Really?! You don’t have to do that!” But I did. Her face lit up as she was given to. I think we were both blessed in this moment. It filled me with motivation and it felt so good to give. The next day I got a text from Chester Bowl where I work and am renting for my grad party. I had been stressed because it was going to cost me 175$ to pay for the space. The text read “Hey Allysa, I have decided that you can use the chalet for free during your grad party. You have been a great addition to Chester Bowl and we would like to thank you for it! ” My boss decided that he would give it too me for free! Basically I was receiving 175$ entirely as a gift! I was overjoyed! The same week that I freely gave, I freely received. Not only are my needs being met, I feel confident that they will continue to be met. God gave back to me 5 times as much as I gave to him. I am not worried anymore. God is good and money will not stop his plans from taking place.”
-Alyssa Geer