My wife and I were saving to try to buy a house for our small but growing family when we came upon one we really loved.  It was in the perfect neighborhood and had the perfect schools, and suddenly our hearts got very involved. How we wanted that house. When we added up all our accounts, it looked like we had enough for the down payment. We were so excited.

As a husband and dad, seeing my wife so thrilled meant everything to me. The neighborhoods were safe. The other families up and down the street were welcoming. Kids like ours were playing everywhere. 

At that point, we tithed by making large offerings at the end of the year. It seemed to suit our way of life after starting my own used car business. But this year would have to be different—we needed every last penny for our down payment. 

Perhaps this year, God would understand.

But just before I was about to make the down payment on the house, I began to feel a tugging at my heart. I knew that keeping and then using the money for our down payment was trusting in the money and not in Him. 

I called my wife and told her that I had had a change of heart. We needed to tithe that money. It was His, not ours. There was a bit of hesitation on the line. I was asking her to say goodbye to her dream. “Really?” she asked.

I was asking her to say goodbye to her dream.

“It’s the right thing to do.” 

“Okay,” she replied. And that was that.

That night we wrote a check, sent it to the church and stayed in prayer. Our dream house would have to wait.

But that was not God’s plan.

In no time, our broker found a lender who agreed to underwrite a loan for us. That’s right, we didn’t have the down payment and the lender didn’t seem to care. Who does that?

We got our house! Funny how much more beautiful it is when it’s the one that God performed a miracle to provide for us. How He wants to bless us if we’ll only trust Him.

I am a tither for life no matter the circumstance. It’s much more exciting than not.