by Paula Langguth Ryan
Over breakfast one morning, my friend Daria asked me if
people could tithe without directly giving money to
someone. I responded "of course!"
People tithe to each other in many, many ways without
money exchanging hands. We can tithe of our time, our
talents and our treasures. When we tithe of our time, we
often get back more time. When we tithe of our talents,
we get access to the talents of others. And when we tithe
of our treasures, we often receive more abundance in
all areas.
We don't always recognize the form the abundance takes,
when it's not actual dollars and cents. The first step
toward receiving greater abundance is to acknowledge our
abundance in whatever form it takes, whether we're
giving or receiving that abundance.
How have people tithed to you in the past two weeks,
other than directly giving you money? And how have you
tithed to others without directly giving them money? And
how can you tithe to others in the weeks to come?
A friend once shared with me a technique that reminds her
of the abundance in her life. She has a little notebook
in which she keeps track of not only her income and
expenses every day, but also gifts she receives every day.
For example, if someone buys her lunch, she records the
price of the lunch as a gift. If she finds a dime on the
sidewalk, she records ten cents as a gift. If someone
offers to carpool with her and she doesn't have to drive
every day, she records the savings in gas and wear and
tear on her car as a gift. If she's out shopping and the
item she intended to buy is on sale, she records the
difference between the regular price and the sales price
as a gift. Whenever she receives a hug, she records what
the hug was worth to her as a gift. She's careful to
record a monetary value for each gift so she can clearly
see her abundance.
My former spouse and I were out and about together one
day and we decided to try out this gift-recording
technique. The very first day our results were astonishing.
First, we dropped off a prescription at the pharmacy and
got free lollipops -- value: 25-cents. Then we went to
lunch and I offered some prosperity-oriented marketing
advice to a restaurant owner, and we got a free lunch
worth $15 and two free loaves of bread worth another $7.
Then we went back to the pharmacy and got what would
have been an expensive prescription filled with generic
medicine, which we had thought would not be available --
a gift of $70. Then we went grocery shopping and two items
we were buying had buy one - get one free sales, so we got
$6 worth of free groceries. And last, but not least, I got
perhaps the oddest gift of all: a free pap smear.
As I have said, we don't always recognize the form our
abundance takes!
What abundant gifts have you received in your life today
or during the past week? Start keeping a gift record for
the next two weeks , and see the abundance in your life
that is being overlooked. Start right here, reading this
newsletter. Count as a gift the uplifting spiritual messages
you receive as you read along!
In addition, start keeping track of all the ways you tithe
to others. We often overlook the gifts we give to others,
without recognizing their true value. Friends have tithed
by helping get seminar mailings out, making me meals,
watching my dog, bringing me breakfast, giving me clothes,
driving me places, buying groceries, providing me with
incredibly valuable connections of people and organizations,
recommending me as a speaker to their organization or group,
proofreading, sending me inspirational articles, or making
me laugh.
When you tithe, whether it's of your time, talent or
treasures, don't second guess WHY you're doing something.
Just make sure you're tithing to a place or person who
feeds you spiritually.
One place I regularly tithe is my home church Unity by the
Bay, because that's where I'm often fed spiritually. One
week, I was meditating, and a niggling little voice kept
telling me to write my tithe check directly to the minister.
I kept shrugging off the voice, rationalizing that I tithe
to the church all the time, and the church pays the
minister, so basically, I AM tithing to the minister.
But the voice wouldn't stop nagging me. Write the tithe
check to the minister. Write the tithe check to the
minister. The voice wouldn't give up, so I finally agreed,
and wrote the check directly to the minister. That was a
prosperous week for me, and my tithe was about $300. With
the check, I included a short note that said, "I don't know
why, but Spirit said to send you my tithe check this week."
A few days later, she called me up in tears. Her husband at
the time had a rare form of cancer and was having a
treatment in Florida and was staying with her folks and she
was going down to see him. He really wanted her to come see
him, but money was tight. So, in faith, she bought herself
a plane ticket, telling him that she was going to be there,
that she would be there for him. She stepped out in faith,
not knowing HOW she was going to pay for the plane ticket.
The day she was to go to the travel agent to pay for her
ticket was the day my tithe check arrived, for the exact
amount of her airfare.
Listen to your intuition, and tithe of your time, talent
and treasures wherever you are guided to tithe.
©Paula Langguth Ryan,
PaulaRyan@artofabundance.com
For more information on Paula Langguth Ryan's personalized
prosperity coaching, customized Prosperity Lecture Series
or Abundance Weekend Program, or other workshops and
in-service training for businesses and organizations,
call 443-394-6439 or visit the workshop section of her
website at http://www.ArtOfAbundance.com If this article fed
your spirit, tithes may be sent to Paula Langguth Ryan,
P.O. Box 65088, Baltimore, MD 21209 or via paypal to
mailto:ArtOfAbundance@aol.com.
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