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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I love Reese’s Pieces that have been chilled in the refrigerator, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson I learned at the bottom of my bank account.
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What I Learned Yesterday:
We all know that college students are usually broke. I certainly was when I was in college. I had a couple of small scholarships that covered most of the expense of books, but nothing more. All of my tuition was paid for by saving money earned from my part time job.
After my freshman year, my roommate and I got a small apartment just off of campus. It was the cheapest one we could find. It wasn’t fancy at all, but it was more than enough for us. It was a one bedroom apartment and we worked it out that he got the bedroom and I got the couch. I really didn’t mind. For 4 years I slept on the couch every night.
When we first moved in, there was no couch, or bed for that matter. We had a computer desk and my drafting table. The previous tenant left a chest of drawers with a mirror and the landlord said we could use it and just leave it for the next tenant. I bought a used futon from another friend, and my roommate got a bed from his parents. I also bought a dinette set from a co-worker. We were living the dream.
At some point we scored an extra long couch from another friend of ours and a lady that my roommate went to church gave us a coffee table and entertainment center. We soon had a fully furnished apartment and we’d only had to buy the dinette set.
We ate a lot of ramen noodles and spent a good amount of time at the CiCi’s pizza all you can eat buffet. My roommate and I got along great. We split all the bills 50/50, and we both valued the importance of paying all of our bills on time. We always paid our bills first, and then used the rest to buy food or other needs.
Depending on how many hours each of us was getting at our jobs, we may have very little money left over, or we may have enough to splurge and go to a movie or something extra like that. Another thing that was important to each of us was being faithful to tithe to our churches. We didn’t attend the same church.
In case you aren’t familiar with tithing, it’s the biblical teaching that all we have comes from God and that we should return at least 10% of it back to Him for the purpose of supporting ministries and those who work in ministry full-time.
I have always believed that tithing is very important and that it should be my top priority. I believed then just as I do now that God honors those who tithe and I’d be better off living off of 90% and tithing, then living off of 100% and not tithing.
The girl I was dating at the time attended the same church as I did. My apartment was in between her apartment and the church, so each week she’d come by my place and we’d ride the rest of the way together. One week she would drive and the next week I would drive.
There was one week where I was facing a dilemma. It was her turn to drive and as we made our way to church I thought through my problem. The problem was that I only had enough money in my bank account to pay my tithe, or buy food for the week, but not both. I hadn’t splurged on anything or spent money that I shouldn’t have. It was just one of those times when there was no money left after all my bills were paid.
My girlfriend could tell something was on my mind and asked me what was wrong. I told her my situation. I also told her that I truly believed that God would take care of me if I was faithful to Him, and I knew that tithing was the right thing to do. I just didn’t have any idea how I would eat until payday. She agreed that I should tithe and trust God to provide. During the service when the offering plate came around, I put in my tithe and wiped out my bank account.
Once church was over we made our way back toward my apartment. However, when we were a couple of miles away, she turned into the parking lot of a shopping center. When I asked her what she was doing, she said that she was buying me some groceries.
Talk about a humbling experience. I come from this macho mindset that says a guy has to pay for every meal on a date and should not let the girl pay. That same mindset also says that a man should be able to provide for himself and those he cares about.
I could tell that buying my groceries was something that she really wanted to do. She didn’t want to do it to humiliate me, she wanted to do it because she cared about me and she respected the choice that I’d made. She graciously walked down every aisle of the store and asked me to choose what I needed from each aisle. We then went to the cashier, and she paid for it all.
My girlfriend never mentioned that day again. She didn’t lord it over me, use it as bargaining chip, or make me feel inferior in any way. She gave out of her abundance and the kindness of her heart, and that was the end of it.
Here’s what I learned.
I learned that God is faithful. He does supply all our needs, and he most often does that through other people. I have no doubt that my girlfriend was just as obedient that day in helping me, as I was in giving my last dollar to the church.
However, whether you believe in tithing or not, there are lessons to be found here. The fact is, that we need each other. I’ve been on the other end of this story where I was the one supplying a need for someone else, and I can assure you that while I learned stuff in both situations, I learned more by being on the receiving end.
We should not be too proud to accept help from others when we need it, and we should be quick to help those in need every chance we can. Giving and receiving allows us to build relationships, create community, express love, and acknowledge our dependence on others. Through the process of giving and receiving, we each grow stronger, and truly make this world a better place.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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