Article February 9, 2004 Issue

lives transformed through giving

with contributions from Edith Washington, Makengo ma Pululu, Clara Metzner, Ginny Luedeman, Rajan Krishnaswami

Edith Washington
Dallas, Texas

When I worked as an elementary school teacher, I was at one point raising a niece and nephew as well as nursing my mom. My finances were such that I could only give one dollar to the collection at church. I faithfully gave that dollar every Sunday. But it troubled me because I really wanted to tithe, and I'd read that tithing meant giving ten percent of one's income.

So I prayed about it. And when I prayed, the idea came to me that I could give more. I had previously believed that tithing was limited to giving money. But I realized in my prayers that my gift could be something besides money. So I pledged to give a 100 percent effort to the things I did for my church. For example, if I was called on to serve on a committee, I would give it my all. I would show up for meetings, I would do what I was assigned to do, and if we needed good ideas, I would bring some.

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