I was very blessed by having a Christian extended family, a Christian family & Christian friends who guided me along a straight path. In fact, my Paternal Grandparents were married over 60 yrs, & my Maternal Grandparents were married over 50 yrs. I'm so blessed with the legacy of faithfulness in marriage. I am seeing this legacy passed down not only in my marriage, but my children’s marriages as well. Thank you, Lord!
I never really gave my parents any trouble. Yes, I was the very strong-willed child in my family but, I never went down any roads of alcohol or drugs. Back in those days, the late 50s & 60s, we didn't go to the grocery store, or any store for that matter on Sundays. We didn't even go to movies or play cards on Sunday. Sunday in my family was a day of worship, family & rest.
When I got up Sunday morning, Mother was already in the kitchen making an extra special lunch that usually consisted of roast beef & gravy, a starchy vegetable, a couple of regular vegetables, with homemake biscuits & GA cane syrup, & don’t forget the lime jello salad! And top it all off with some type of homemade desserts. YUM!! We would wear our best Sunday “duds”, on the way to church many times we would pick-up someone who needed a ride, then after church, come home to that awesome lunch. Our special dishwasher was me!, most of the time. Well, to me, it seemed that way. We would then go to our special napping places which never changed! Mother was in bed reading the newspaper/napping; while in the family room the TV had the ballgame on: my brother was lying on the couch, Daddy laying on the floor with his feet prompted up on the couch, & me curled up in a wooden rocker. I don’t know how I slept there, but I did. I loved to rock, & I still do. After naps, back to church for worship again.
I’m so grateful for the legacy of corporate Sabbath/Sunday worship & rest. To this day, my Sundays are about the same. I do go to stores, from time to time; but mainly Sunday is still worshipping the LORD in corporate worship, family coming together to reconnect, & rest. My weeks still go much better when I can get my Sunday nap.
A little side note:
I remember when my kids were babies, & Dave was gone to work on Sundays. I desperately needed my Sunday nap more than ever. I would make Amy, who never needed any sleep, go read books in her room. Ben was an infant at the time. I would make a palette on the floor for he & I. I would put him between the furniture & me to help reign him in. By God’s grace, I would sleep off & on. You know how Mothers do, with one eye open & one eye closed. It worked for that season in my life.
Also, Saturdays were important in my family. Most of the time this day was used to get extra chores & errand accomplished. In later years we would go to the fishing lake where my parents owned a piece of property on the lake. Me & my friends had a great time swimming, while my Daddy, brother & friends fished. Through the years, Mother fried up a mess of brim & bass from that lake.
Saturday evening was basically the same. After bath & hair washing, I would stand in front of Mother’s dresser as she pinned curled my hair. My hair sure did look pretty on Sunday mornings, but to this day, I don’t know how I slept in those things.
Either Saturday night or Sunday morning Daddy would call me into their bedroom & give me my allowance. I really don’t remember what I got, maybe a quarter or fifty cents. That was rich in those days. One thing I knew I had to do with the money was tithe a portion to the church. For some reason, my allowance was broken down into nickels & dimes; because, I remember taking a nickel to church, & would put it into the offering plate in Sunday School.
One Sunday I truly forgot to put in my tithe in the offering plate. Well, this planted the idea in my head, “Why don’t I stop tithing & just keep it for myself. No one will know, & look how much money I could save for something else.” I was definitely old enough to know better. What I didn’t know, was what the Bible says is true, “your sins will find you out. “ I’m not sure where that is located, but it came true in my young life. It must be there, SOMEWHERE!
One Sunday morning Daddy called me into their bedroom to give me my allowance. Daddy was 6’2”, which was pretty tall to a little girl. He always stood beside his very big chest of drawers when he gave me my allowance. That Sunday morning Daddy asked me had I been putting my tithe in the offering plate. I didn’t think twice & said, “YES.” Yep, I lied! What I didn’t know was that the church kept a record of my tithe. When the statement came in the mail, there was nothing down by my name. I definitely had been found out.
I don’t remember what Daddy said. All Daddy had to do was give me a certain look many times to correct me. This was one of those times. Daddy gave me mercy & showed me grace. He didn’t spank me-that time, but he did take away my allowance away for a couple of weeks.
One of the most valuable lessons that I learned at that moment was to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (church). This simple but powerful lesson made a lifestyle imprint on my soul. My heavenly Father says, (not Daddy says) in Malachi 3:8-12(NIV) 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you (God’s people) rob Me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You (God’s people) are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing Me. 10 (Command) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, (WHY-blessing) that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, (Blessing)“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Interesting:
1. God mentions three times of His people robbing Him. He also mentions how they robbed Him-with tithes & offerings.
2. This is the only place in the Bible that God tells His people to test Him. Bottom Line: He wanted to show them that He was trustworthy to take care of them, & He wanted to bless them like a good, good Father would do.
This is still true for today.
I’m so glad that the legacy of tithing took root when I was a small child.
In my next blog-Legacies: Part 2, I will be sharing how God has been faithful to this promise He made to me in Malachi 3:8-12.
As always, thanks for reading and letting me share my life’s journey with you.
ann :)
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