310 Living...

Just a simple story from the Poage house that I thought was worth sharing...

Yesterday at church, our pastor did a special service that he called a "shareholders' meeting," in which we got to hear testimonies from people whose lives have been significantly touched in one way or another through the ministry of our church. In essence, it was his way of showing the church members our return on investment, and it was incredibly moving and fantastically done. He introduced a new campaign called "310 Living" that references the scripture, Malachi 3:10, which says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

At the end of the service, the church was asked to think about the coming year and decide (privately and individually) how much we each wanted to commit to give on a monthly basis. Now, this gets pretty personal so I'm going to be somewhat vague so that I don't cause any readers to become uncomfortable... but in the same breath, I want to be clear that this post is to bring glory to GOD-- not Collin & Stephanie-- and hopefully you'll see why if you read on...

Collin & I are consistent "tithers." We give monthly to the church, and also actively support some friends in missions. In tough economical times like these, I'll admit it's tempting to hoard every penny as a protective measure. But in truly understanding that EVERYTHING is God's anyhow, and any penny in our pocket is there because God placed it there, it's miraculously easier to loosen the grip... SO-- When presented with the question of what our investment would be for the coming year, Collin and I chose to do what some might have seen as a fiscally irresponsible act on our part: We committed to give a number that is significantly more than our usual monthly tithe. Surprisingly, there was no anxiousness... no sweat... no reservation... LOTS of peace. After all-- it's God's money anyway, so He'll find the "extra" in the budget to cover our obedience to Him. (He said, "Test me in this" and so... we did!)

OK--- so that's the long and drawn-out lead-up to the part that's meant to come off as a somewhat-cool story... Here's what happened, back-story first: Our 2.5 year-old double oven that we had installed when we re-did the kitchen had recently shown signs of a defective LED display panel that was going to cost us several-hundred dollars to repair, with no guarantee for success. (After researching it, we found it's a fairly common problem with this particular oven.) It had been slowly dimming over time, but had just reached the point of not being readable. The oven still heated and cooked-- We just couldn't tell what the temperature was set on, or anything about the "brain" of the oven, which severely crippled the usefulness of the appliance. This morning, (Monday 2/23) after yesterday's commitment to give more than we think we can afford, I woke up to a perfectly-lit LED panel on our oven. Can't explain it-- but I choose to believe it was a simple, small way in which God said to me, "It's ALL mine... even seemingly insignificant LED lights... and I can do with any of it what I please. What was broken can be fixed in an instant... Just trust ME with it. I've gotcha covered."

And, who knows... the LED panel could go back to zilch tomorrow, but the truth remains: That God is God and money is paper. It's just the tool God uses to move us around to where He wants us to be. And not just money, but our houses, our cars, our jobs, our children, our parents, our siblings, our lives... it's ALL His. And He can do with any of it what He pleases in order to move us around to where He wants us to be. To shape and mold us to be more like Christ. THAT'S the only thing that matters to God. That we be transformed in our minds to become more like Christ.

...You're thinking, "You got all that from a dumb double oven???" Yep! Sure did! :) And I can't WAIT to report other ways that God helps us save our pennies to be able to give them back to Him. (Next time, I'll just post the "mini-miracle"-- like the oven healing itself-- and will leave the preaching to the professionals!) ;) But thanks for reading through it all anyway.