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Although my body was at the sales, my mind was back at the track with The Unbelievable. I was really looking forward to the sales being over.
As the remaining horses on Joe’s list came through the pavilion, I dutifully bid up to the amount that Joe had given, and on each horse I only managed to get in a bid or two before the competition left me in the dust. I really would rather have been heading home to get out of my wet clothes and put my feet up, but when I flipped to the listing of the last horse on Joe’s list (the last page in the book) I couldn’t help but smile.
It was a filly by Devil His Due. That sire was a very sound racehorse, and seemed to throw sound offspring. And if she looked anything like her daddy, she was probably big and lanky and dark, which is my favorite kind of racehorse! We had looked at so many horses, I honestly couldn’t remember her, but Jerry and I had kept her on our list.
As her hip number drew closer, I walked from the warmth of the seating area in the sales pavilion to the walking ring out back to have a final look at the filly.
There was quite a commotion in the ring, as people scurried to get out of the way of a fractious horse. The crowd scattered in all directions as the filly I was looking for took aim with both back feet on anything that moved.
I watched the filly (indeed big and lanky and as black as they come) dragging her handler this way and that, and then I recognized the lady on the end of the shank. She was an old acquaintance from the track, who was a good friend of Jerry’s now-deceased dad.
“Looks like she’s a handful,” I said, and thought that that was probably the understatement of the year.
“She’s really a nice filly,” Julie responded. “We bred her and raised her on our farm—I have pretty high hopes for her.”
I went back inside to bid when she came through the ring, figuring that I probably wouldn’t get this one, either.
Perhaps it was that the majority of buyers had already left, or that the antics of this filly had scared off some, but when the hammer dropped, I was the winning bidder. And, I had spent $3000 less than the maximum amount Joe allotted me. I grinned as I signed the purchase sheet—surely this would make our clearance-bin-shopping owner ecstatic!
Then I remembered the filly’s crazed kicking, and thought to myself, “UB, you’d better redouble your efforts to get me back to where I once was!”
Daily Notes: This section may be a little longer than usual today, but God’s led me to some good stuff. First, from Deuteronomy 10: 12-14:
What do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.
Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth and everything on it.
The Message
Then, to The Miracle of Tithing, in which Mark Victor Hansen says:
What are the Universal Laws, and how do they work with tithing? Since the beginning of time, certain universal “truths” were set in motion that provide a constant, uniform and orderly method to the way the world works. These laws work in and around us, no matter what we do or how we think. They are:
The Law of Energy Becoming Reality—Energy moves into physical form. What you give out in energy (your tithe) materializes in physical results.
The Law of Vibration/Attraction—Everything in the universe vibrates, nothing rests. Your thoughts and subsequent actions are vibrations that you send off into the universe which, in turn, attract like-minded energy and vibration to you.
The Law of Relativity—Nothing is good or bad until it’s compared to something. For instance, some people may have greater abundance and prosperity than you and, likewise, you have more than another person.
The Law of Polarity—Everything has an opposite. If something bad happens in your life, there has to be something good about it. It’s how you look at the situation that makes it good or bad. Remember this as you begin to tithe, no matter what your situation.
The Law of Rhythm—The tide comes in, the tide goes out. When you’re on a down swing, know that the tide will be changing—it’s a law. “And this too shall pass.”
The Law of Gestation—Every “seed” has a gestation period. Manifestation into form or physical results is guaranteed to occur when the time is right. If you don’t experience immediate changes in your life because of tithing, remember this law.
And lastly, what Mr. Hansen considers to be the most important universal law for tithing:
The Law of Cause and Effect—What you send into the Universe comes back to you. There is no such thing as chance. Everything happens according to Law and nothing ever escapes the Law. When you give back 10% of your income, you will set this divine Law into motion—the question is, will you be ready to receive?
My son, Ian, whom I love dearly, nearly drove me ‘round the bend over the past few years. He's a believer in karma, and I told him that I believed in karma, too, since God invented it. I believe that karma is just another word for The Law of Cause and Effect. Or, even more simply put, what goes around comes around.
As the remaining horses on Joe’s list came through the pavilion, I dutifully bid up to the amount that Joe had given, and on each horse I only managed to get in a bid or two before the competition left me in the dust. I really would rather have been heading home to get out of my wet clothes and put my feet up, but when I flipped to the listing of the last horse on Joe’s list (the last page in the book) I couldn’t help but smile.
It was a filly by Devil His Due. That sire was a very sound racehorse, and seemed to throw sound offspring. And if she looked anything like her daddy, she was probably big and lanky and dark, which is my favorite kind of racehorse! We had looked at so many horses, I honestly couldn’t remember her, but Jerry and I had kept her on our list.
As her hip number drew closer, I walked from the warmth of the seating area in the sales pavilion to the walking ring out back to have a final look at the filly.
There was quite a commotion in the ring, as people scurried to get out of the way of a fractious horse. The crowd scattered in all directions as the filly I was looking for took aim with both back feet on anything that moved.
I watched the filly (indeed big and lanky and as black as they come) dragging her handler this way and that, and then I recognized the lady on the end of the shank. She was an old acquaintance from the track, who was a good friend of Jerry’s now-deceased dad.
“Looks like she’s a handful,” I said, and thought that that was probably the understatement of the year.
“She’s really a nice filly,” Julie responded. “We bred her and raised her on our farm—I have pretty high hopes for her.”
I went back inside to bid when she came through the ring, figuring that I probably wouldn’t get this one, either.
Perhaps it was that the majority of buyers had already left, or that the antics of this filly had scared off some, but when the hammer dropped, I was the winning bidder. And, I had spent $3000 less than the maximum amount Joe allotted me. I grinned as I signed the purchase sheet—surely this would make our clearance-bin-shopping owner ecstatic!
Then I remembered the filly’s crazed kicking, and thought to myself, “UB, you’d better redouble your efforts to get me back to where I once was!”
Daily Notes: This section may be a little longer than usual today, but God’s led me to some good stuff. First, from Deuteronomy 10: 12-14:
What do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.
Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth and everything on it.
The Message
Then, to The Miracle of Tithing, in which Mark Victor Hansen says:
What are the Universal Laws, and how do they work with tithing? Since the beginning of time, certain universal “truths” were set in motion that provide a constant, uniform and orderly method to the way the world works. These laws work in and around us, no matter what we do or how we think. They are:
The Law of Energy Becoming Reality—Energy moves into physical form. What you give out in energy (your tithe) materializes in physical results.
The Law of Vibration/Attraction—Everything in the universe vibrates, nothing rests. Your thoughts and subsequent actions are vibrations that you send off into the universe which, in turn, attract like-minded energy and vibration to you.
The Law of Relativity—Nothing is good or bad until it’s compared to something. For instance, some people may have greater abundance and prosperity than you and, likewise, you have more than another person.
The Law of Polarity—Everything has an opposite. If something bad happens in your life, there has to be something good about it. It’s how you look at the situation that makes it good or bad. Remember this as you begin to tithe, no matter what your situation.
The Law of Rhythm—The tide comes in, the tide goes out. When you’re on a down swing, know that the tide will be changing—it’s a law. “And this too shall pass.”
The Law of Gestation—Every “seed” has a gestation period. Manifestation into form or physical results is guaranteed to occur when the time is right. If you don’t experience immediate changes in your life because of tithing, remember this law.
And lastly, what Mr. Hansen considers to be the most important universal law for tithing:
The Law of Cause and Effect—What you send into the Universe comes back to you. There is no such thing as chance. Everything happens according to Law and nothing ever escapes the Law. When you give back 10% of your income, you will set this divine Law into motion—the question is, will you be ready to receive?
My son, Ian, whom I love dearly, nearly drove me ‘round the bend over the past few years. He's a believer in karma, and I told him that I believed in karma, too, since God invented it. I believe that karma is just another word for The Law of Cause and Effect. Or, even more simply put, what goes around comes around.
Oh, about the photo (an old one) that I posted with the blog today: Remember when I said the starting gate was dangerous? Nobody ever expects this to happen, but it did! That's Jerry in front of the starting gate at Turfway Park the night the wheels popped off of it just after the start of a race. Sheesh...it's always somethin'!
Hi Shon. I am a friend of Lori Hinners and she shared this blog with me. I just had an incident to testify to your writing about the rewards of tithing. As background, my source of income is cleaning homes and my husband takes care of all of the bills with his job. I was in Haiti on a mission's trip a few weeks ago and when I got back I decided I wanted to really step up my giving for the poor and the people in Haiti. I started sending money immediately to 3 of the high school boys I got to know (2 were my security guards, 1 an interpreter), to Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, and to Operation Blessing after the earthquake. Within 2 weeks of starting up my new level of giving, I received, out of the blue, 5 new cleaning clients...all via word of mouth. That's about 50% of my current business! For me, I feel like He's done this so that I can give even more than I already wanted to try and give.
ReplyDeleteTerri...thanks so much for reading along! Lori said you might join us! What a great testimony you have--I have found that my business tends to grow with no real effort on my part when I give God back what is his anyway. As you've probably figured out by now, this blog is an effort to make sure I do the right thing, even when it's difficult to do. Please keep us posted on what happens as YOU tithe...it's a good thing to do this collectively!
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