A Tithe Situation

Though it is quite obvious that trial after trial has presented itself over the past few weeks. Some of them have immediate impact, and others grow in significance as the days go by. One such trial is the circumstance of living off 5 days' pay for 2 weeks.

Last Sunday afternoon, I was presented with a real test towards my attitude when it came to giving. I was stuck with a whole 100-peso bill during church service, and the lady assigned to lead offertory struck a chord when she said that we should give out of our hearts, that we should give because we love God. In the current circumstances I was in, I was partly willing to go ahead and demonstrate how much I loved God by giving, but then I was also a bit worried about how to get home. No sooner than immediately after I prayed about this, I got a text message from Waffy asking where I was at, because there was a parade to shoot. Prayer answered, I thought; I then lifted my action of giving close to all that I had as an act of faith.

As soon as then, I was already being taken care of. I was treated to a timely light snack after church as the couple who had their baby girl dedicated during the service offered pancit and lumpia. When I met Waffy over at a coffee shop in Session, he paid for my coffee.

After shooting the parade (which seemed to be more of a procession due to the very small number of people who actually participated), I learned that it would end over at that haunted house right in front of PNKY in Leonard Wood Road. It was roughly around 5:30pm; Though dinner and drinks were to be served at 6:30pm, Waffy and Dawin thought of having a snack over at SM after shooting the beautiful sunset to pass time. They paid for pizza.

Eventually we made our way to the haunted house. This is where I was fortunate to have learned how off-camera flash works (shots to be uploaded soon), and more importantly, 24 years of wondering how this house looked from the inside ended when I practiced the forementioned flash photography style in this forementioned structure.

I have to admit that at first I thought the partying was going to be too much for me. The last time I was in a crowd fighting to death over being next in line in the beer keg queue was in college. Surprisingly, I was enjoying the familiar atmosphere, even more so when I remembered that everything was free. It could have been the fact that the band was playing old school stuff, and I was with people who actually made sense when they talked, even when inebriated.

The Polive eventually had to pass by with all the noise the party created, and about a half hour later, the party began to close. I thought I was finally going to be on my way home when it was suggested that we 'wash' over at ChillOut. Again, I was intimidated by the idea since I was sleepy. I didn't really have a choice, though, since Waffy was going to be funding our taxi ride home, and he was all for having another drink.

I found this to be a good decision when as I was entertained over and over again by the group we hung out with, and their sudden outbursts in song, in a creative attempt to get to the nerves of those among them with a weaker alcohol tolerance. It was here that Waffy noted how my the 3.75 pesos I had in my pocket got me so far. I was quite amazed myself - the 100 I gave earlier wouldn't have been enough to pay for all this fun I was having. God took care of me through the blessings of friends and strangers, and I eventually made my way home, with 3 pesos and 75 centavos still in my pocket.

A thought made the whole experience happier - I gave God all I had, and in my opinion, He blessed me. I was taken care of way beyond how much the 100 bucks would have taken me had I chose to keep it. Take note that I had just enough beer to have a good time, no more, and no less. I believe that I was placed in this situation for reasons more than I can imagine to think of, and that's why I'm writing this.

It's given me more motivation to give. God truly blesses His people for them to be a blessing.

Have a God-filled week, everyone.