Tithing

In our sunday school lesson we talked about tithing.  The teacher asked if everyone knew what tithing was.  Everyone said they understood that it was to pay 10% to the church.  Since that was covered the teacher, my friend Brian, asked what experiences people had with tithing and what stories they could share.  I normally keep my mouth shut.  But I tried to attempt to endeavor to share a story.  Not mine, but I share again without permission.  Somethings are a challenge and others are not.  I never have a hard time paying 10 percent of my money to the church.  My dad said once that he was promised that if he paid his tithing he would always be able to provide for his family.  It worked for the most part.  We never lacked for anything.  I understood from a young age that there were always people that had more money than us.  It seemed logical that I would get a fraction of what others kids did because they had a small family to buy for.  Simple math.  We moved a lot, however, and I ended up going to several different elementary schools as my dad chased work in mining.  For various reasons he had to change jobs.  During at least one period that I recall he was out of work for some time.  Things were bad enough that I noticed.  We had some food given to us.  (I was not thankful for the nasty grape juice.)  My dad earned some money and paid tithing on it which made no sense.  If we were receiving help then why pay tithing?  It didn't make sense to pass the money around and get it back.  But he said that the rule is followed regardless of the amount and circumstances.   I recall thinking he was silly, I always had the highest respect but not always understanding.  It is hard to explain what I thought and I didn't do it well in class and won't try here either.  It was a long time ago and I don't think registered in conscious thought but this is what came of it.  I wondered where he had failed to live up to the reward of providing for us. If people had to give us food then something in the promise was broken.  I don't recall my dad struggling with that dilemma, but I think I did.  Perhaps I had to see the demonstration in order to learn.  I learned that he paid tithing anyway.  I observed that he didn't lose faith in a trial.   That a promised blessing delayed or temporarily removed is not a lie but a challenge and growth opportunity.  Brian came to my rescue since I couldn't wrap up the story.  His comment was that sometimes a parent is given a challenge in order to demonstrate to the children how to overcome it.  That nailed it.  I never had a problem with tithing because I saw my dad deal with it when I was 10 years old.  It was the right thing to do and I adopted it without much thought.  I hope to receive the same promised blessings, even though I ended up in mining too.