Seriously, we have more after we give at least some. I don't know how that works, but if we want money left at the end of the month, we give at the beginning. On the other hand, and probably just in our case, if I write the check from my account, it only works so-so. If Mr Smith writes a check for the same amount from his account, we are way farther ahead in the end.
I'm never sure why things work out the way they do.
In early 2007, I got a statement from my church, itemizing my cash donations.
I didn't pay much attention to it, but some days later opened the envelope.
Forgive my French, but I saw the total, and thought, "What the fu--?"
I had no idea this was going on; it turned out I had given 21% of the gross income to the church.....and that didn't include donations (admittedly much lesser) to charitable causes.
And to be bluntly honest, I never missed the money.
The usual and standard
caveat here, however; being single with no spouse, no dependents, and no roots, I am free to live a sort of casual, careless, devil-may-care life. If I had responsibilities, I'd be an asshole, living like this. Living this way suits me fine, but I would NOT recommend it for most other people.
And it doesn't make me any more virtuous than other people.
The donations go up-and-down, dependent upon whether or not I need a pick-up truckload of Friskie's cat food, or there's veterinary bills. I suspect God wants me to take care of that first.
But after taking care of that, well, easy come, easy go. It's a light sort of life.
