The Bookstore For A Little Research

Today I spent some time at the bookstore researching tithing/giving. I know the road is going to be challenging and I need to keep my spirits up. I looked for books about people who give. I ended up in the Christian section. I think I also found a book in the business section.

What I normally do is find 3-4 books and then sit down at the cafe and skim them. One of the books was about spiritual abundance through giving; a lot of it validating my tithing quest. The author was telling a story and then at the end of that story explain what she discovered from the story.

What I liked about it was the stories. The stories were about average people who discovered that giving to others enriched their lives.

One story was a lady whose hands hands were very cold and she was five minutes from home. She was dreaming of them becoming warm against her fireplace. Then she passed a homeless man with a sign asking for food. But what she noticed was his hands - they had no gloves on them and it was freezing cold.

This made her think of her 23 year old son that succumbed to drugs and ran away a few years ago. Her son would not talk to her no matter how hard she tried. She imagined that he, too, is probably homeless and may be in the same straights as the homeless man in front of her.

So this lady goes into the store and buys some food items. She gets to the cashier and decides to go back for a few items.

Finally she checks out at the register and goes back to her car. She drives up to the car and rolls down the window. As the homeless man reaches his hands in the window for her offering, he is surprised when she gives him not food but warm gloves.

That is all she gave him. But it was a special thing for her. The homeless man accepted the gloves in thanks.

Now some of you are probably wondering why she did not give him food too. I thought the same thing. But who knows.

In her heart she felt she was giving one of Gods sons warm gloves to keep him warm. She silently prayed that God would take care of her own son as she has just taken care of His son.

I like that story.

I have been reading these types of stories to keep my spirits up.