A year of changes, learning, and growth.

So, the last couple of months/weeks, the main thing in my life that I have been focusing on is my finances. I have been working on trying to budget and save money so that I can stop living from paycheck to paycheck every few weeks when I have random expenses come up. I also want to build up a significant savings account for future unexpected incidents/expenses. I keep getting interrupted by life, and I keep discovering other ways to track my money and budget, so I haven't entirely gotten very far yet. 😂

However, this has yet to deter me, as I keep trying to make notes of my finances. I think that I have been underestimating the amount of expenses that I actually have to pay every month, and so I keep getting low on funds because I think I have more money to work with than I do. 

I know that, as I have been watching my money usage, I have been blessed. I know that as I have paid my tithing first and foremost, I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life. Because somehow...even when I have thought that I didn't have enough...I figured out a way to make it work. 

I'm grateful for the little lessons in life, and for the little tender mercies. God has really been so good to me this year, I honestly can't even comprehend it. This year has probably been one of the craziest years in that I've had probably the greatest number of changes occurring in my life this year than in previous years, which has resulted in the greatest number of changes and the greatest amount of growth to myself. 

Xoxo

Mattie

Tithing.

Now, I know you're probably thinking, "There's not much to do with tithing. You pay ten percent, easy. What's she going to talk about?" And yes, you're partly right. Tithing is ten percent, but there's more to it. Well, not really, but you'll see what I mean in a second. I've been paying tithing for about four years. That's a long time. I've been babysitting for a long time, and I usually get around $10-20 each time I babysit. Sometimes I'll forget to pay tithing for a while, so when I do pay tithing, instead of it being one or two dollars, it ends up being four or five dollars. But this doesn't bother me. Paying tithing, for me, is just so natural, I don't even think about. It's just natural instinct. That money is rightfully The Lord's and it doesn't bother me that I have to pay ten percent of my earnings. Right now, I have about $400 or so in total. If I didn't pay my tithing, I'd have a lot more money, and adding to that what I've already spent, it's probably quite a lot. I'll never know. But I don't care. Tithing is a simple concept, but you have to have the right attitude and heart about it. You have to realize that nothing is ever truly yours. Everything you get comes from The Lord. So, really, ten percent is nothing. Heavenly Father has given us such a beautiful world with brilliant minds and many great inventions. Without Him, you wouldn't be reading this, I wouldn't have typed it, the technology would be impossible (improbable at the very least). But He wants us to have a good life, a nice life, not just a church-going life. So He's given us entertainment: books, movies, technology. But He still wants us to recognize Him; He wants to make sure that we know that everything has come from Him. He doesn't want the recognition, nor the money. He wants us to know what He's done for us. It's not a gift to Him. It's a gift for us. He has given us so much, it's only fair that we give back to Him. 

Looking back on my life, I've seen the hand of The Lord so many times, and just because I've paid my tithing. I have a strong testimony of tithing. I have often felt like I have had less money than I actually do sometimes, and I know that The Lord has blessed me. Tithing is not just a ritual to me, and it's not just natural. I think tithing is an attitude, a lifestyle, and it's giving a heartfelt thanks to our Heavenly Father.