You often hear stories of people that give much, through faith that God will always provide, and receive abundant blessings in return. I think we recently experienced this blessing ourselves. It may just be a coincidence, but as the saying goes, perhaps a coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. Plus, I strive to look for God in my daily experiences and happenings. If you intentionally look for God, you will often see His hand at work.
I was far too zealous when submitting our taxes this year. I finished our taxes prior to the end of January and was quite frustrated with myself once I received another form at the end of January that changed our tax position. Because of this form, we should have received a $513 refund. I promptly filed an amendment with the IRS. Many weeks went by and I didn't receive the refund. I clearly remember checking my mail on a Saturday in March and after once again not receiving the check, I made a pact with God that if we received the refund, I would donate it to HOPE International. Lo and behold, three days later the refund check was in the mail. My imperfect and sinful nature quickly took hold as I immediately thought about all the ways we could put that money to work: the upcoming tuition bill, textbooks for my summer classes, debt payment, the patio we want installed this summer, etc. Then God spoke to me very clearly and more or less said, "Whitney! Are you kidding me? HELLO! Don't you remember that we had a deal??". Of course. It wasn't merely a coincidence that the check arrived 3 days after my pact, after months of waiting. I explained this whole story to Josh (who didn't know about the pact) and he 100% agreed that we should give the money to HOPE. Did you know that a donation to a micro-lending institution, such as HOPE, is multiplied many times over? The money is lent to one borrower who repays the loan, then the same money is borrowed to another lender, who subsequently repays the loan, and on and on. Some research has shown that a donation to a non-profit such as HOPE is multiplied 20 times over. So our $500 tax refund, when donated to HOPE, effectively became a $10,000 donation!
So this is where the "blessings in return" portion comes in. Last week, just a few weeks after our donation, we were given a beautiful, practically new couch, that is PERFECT for our newly finished basement. Look at the picture! It's fabulous. Josh's aunt Sue has a wealthy friend who was getting new furniture and no longer needed this set. She graciously gave it to us, and I haven't even met her before! We feel so grateful and blessed as we did not have the money to spend on basement furniture. Perhaps there is no connection between our donation to HOPE and our surprise gift of furniture. But maybe there is... "Start seeing miracles".
I was far too zealous when submitting our taxes this year. I finished our taxes prior to the end of January and was quite frustrated with myself once I received another form at the end of January that changed our tax position. Because of this form, we should have received a $513 refund. I promptly filed an amendment with the IRS. Many weeks went by and I didn't receive the refund. I clearly remember checking my mail on a Saturday in March and after once again not receiving the check, I made a pact with God that if we received the refund, I would donate it to HOPE International. Lo and behold, three days later the refund check was in the mail. My imperfect and sinful nature quickly took hold as I immediately thought about all the ways we could put that money to work: the upcoming tuition bill, textbooks for my summer classes, debt payment, the patio we want installed this summer, etc. Then God spoke to me very clearly and more or less said, "Whitney! Are you kidding me? HELLO! Don't you remember that we had a deal??". Of course. It wasn't merely a coincidence that the check arrived 3 days after my pact, after months of waiting. I explained this whole story to Josh (who didn't know about the pact) and he 100% agreed that we should give the money to HOPE. Did you know that a donation to a micro-lending institution, such as HOPE, is multiplied many times over? The money is lent to one borrower who repays the loan, then the same money is borrowed to another lender, who subsequently repays the loan, and on and on. Some research has shown that a donation to a non-profit such as HOPE is multiplied 20 times over. So our $500 tax refund, when donated to HOPE, effectively became a $10,000 donation!
So this is where the "blessings in return" portion comes in. Last week, just a few weeks after our donation, we were given a beautiful, practically new couch, that is PERFECT for our newly finished basement. Look at the picture! It's fabulous. Josh's aunt Sue has a wealthy friend who was getting new furniture and no longer needed this set. She graciously gave it to us, and I haven't even met her before! We feel so grateful and blessed as we did not have the money to spend on basement furniture. Perhaps there is no connection between our donation to HOPE and our surprise gift of furniture. But maybe there is... "Start seeing miracles".
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