The Penny

In December we had tithing settlement and our Bishop encouraged all of our kids to pay tithing.Jacob earned some money from wood and from Birthday so Sunday morning he was counting up his tithing. Well Rachel and Abby decided they desperately wanted to pay tithing too. So they gathered up their change. I was helping Abby fill our her tithing slip and realized she hadn't put her tithing amount in the correct spot.
"No Mom, my tithing is in the other envelope." I realized she was donating $0.35 to the temple construction fund. She was so excited to be giving her money to the building of temples. And I was so proud.
Rachel on the other hand was upset. "What's wrong Rachel?" "I can't find my Best penny." Rachel only has a few pennies (less than 5 total) and she had wanted to give her very best penny for tithing. WOW! We found it later and she was so excited to give her Best penny to the Lord.
There are many people who scoff that we give 10% of our income to the Lord. Certainly it would seem like I would have more money to pay off debt or have a larger savings or nicer things for my family if we kept that money. However, it's just not true. I receive tremendous blessing from paying tithing and fast offerings. We tend to make more money when we pay the Lord first. I know this to be true. I am so grateful my children are gaining a testimony for themselves of the blessings of Tithing!