Patti is a stay-at-home mom, who recently was trying to come up with a way to help supplement her family's income. Around this same time, she joined a women's small group and was introduced to the idea of tithing.
This idea was totally new to Patti, who was already worried about making ends meet. Patti told her leader that she didn't know how she could do it, especially since her husband, though a church-goer, did not feel the same as she was beginning to feel.
Her leader told her that the amount of money she had to give didn't matter. What mattered was her heart—her attitude of giving. So from the income she received from the new, "small" job she had, Patti went out on a limb and tithed for the first time in her life.
A little while later during a visit with her accountant to file her family's income tax return, she braced for the usual bad news regarding the huge sum they'd have to pay. To her surprise, this year would be different. The accountant informed her that they were actually going to get more than $1,700 back as a refund!
Patti believes this was God's way of honoring her faith in Him. Even when she didn't quite understand how important tithing was, she did it, and God showed her how happy He was with her.
