I often think about the sweet women I work with. When one of us believes in something, loves something, or finds value in the thing we just bought, we can’t wait to share it with each other. I see it as a special part of what makes us women when we love each other. It’s why every single one of us at my office has an air fryer. It’s why we check out each other’s new pair of shoes and pass them around to see how comfortable they are. It’s why we research how to lose weight the fastest and several of us have Pelotons and are members of Weight Watchers. It’s why we all run to Costco and buy the chicken nuggets that taste exactly like Chick-fil-A nuggets. We cheer each other on to be better moms, slimmer humans, and more put together and confident women. We tell each other what works.
What works for me is tithing. Along with allowance and taxes and shopping and learning how to budget, my mom and grandparents gave me a foundation of scriptural financial principles.Tithing can be a hot topic for many a church goer, let alone people who don’t attend church. Many of us have a knee jerk reaction to that word and concept because we have a knee jerk reaction to being told what to do. We’re told to tithe so that the church can function and bless others through ministry. I’ve seen it work in my own world.
As a single mom on a teacher salary, I struggled greatly from check to check. When I moved toward my childhood foundation of tithing, my world changed. Slowly, I became more financially independent and successful. I didn’t need food stamps anymore. I didn’t need support from church families. I didn’t need help with rent. I will tell you, nothing happened immediately. There was no inheritance check in my mailbox. There was no huge raise at work. It doesn’t work that way.
There is something beautiful about sharing what you have. I know most of us feel like we are not ‘making’ it with post-pandemic inflation, and although that is a very real stressor in each of our families, we are wealthy. I teach my children they were born in this timeline and live at these exact GPS coordinates for a reason. Suss out the reason. Search out how you can make the world a happier and kinder place from where you are. But more than telling them, I believe strongly in showing them.
There is deep joy in generosity. When you give, the joy of blessing another human being is infectious. I’ve found the more I give, the more I want to give. The giving can be relational, gifts (clean water filters, donating classroom books I don’t use anymore), and my time.
October Grace Media got legs on my 50th birthday. I’m grateful for a husband who supports my small business, cheers me on, and handles the paperwork while I do nothing but create and spend time with clients–and also believes in the wild concept of tithing. OGM may be small, but it’s never too soon to be generous. As I grow, my heart is rooted in blessing organizations I love with my business success by tithing on every invoice. Your family sessions, Mommy and Me sessions, weddings or monthly social media content subscriptions are in turn a blessing to others.
I love companies who do social good. Call it social good. Call it tithing. Call it end of the year taxable donations. Call it whatever you want or don’t name it at all, but the point is, go do it. Be generous with what you have, with where you were born in this timeline, and with the GPS coordinates you call home.
Until next time,
Focus on what matters...
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