Jeff and Barbara met and fell in love. Both were native New Yorkers.
Both were Jewish and believed in Y'shua as the Messiah. Both kept the Sabbath holy and all of the Ten Commandments. Both were vegetarians. Both were active in ministry for God. A real match made in heaven. Both had experienced the emotional roller coaster and heartache associated with physical attachments during the dating period. So both decided not to even hold hands until Jeff asked for Barbara's hand in marriage, and not to kiss until the minister said, "You may now kiss the bride." This gave them plenty of time to get to know each other and talk about the important issues that hold a marriage together.
Finances being one of the most important areas of marriage, they decided to find out how compatible they were in this area. It turns out that both had already been giving a full twenty percent (ten percent for tithe, ten percent for offering) of their gross income to the LORD. Even though they were both volunteers, earning just a small stipend at the time, they always had enough.
As plans of a wedding were birthed they wondered how they could give tithes and offerings on their wedding gifts. How do you give twenty percent of a blender? Most of their friends did not earn much more than they did and they were expecting mostly home made afghans for gifts. They decided that they would figure out how much the value of the physical gifts were and then give the appropriate amount in cash, and if they did not have enough cash they would have to return a blender or something so they would have enough cash. When they finally opened all their presents they not only had enough cash gifts to cover their tithe and offerings on all their gifts, both cash and physical gifts, they had enough to cover the cost for their whole two week honeymoon, including airfare, rental car, and hotels. In addition to the cash they also received more than needed for furnishing their new apartment. And there was even a little money left over to put in the bank.
Weeks after their honeymoon they took a class on how to set up a spending plan that has kept them out of debt (other than their mortgage) and has helped them to buy the things that they really need and often want. For more than sixteen years of marriage Jeff and Barbara have never lacked for anything they really needed nor have they even questioned whether they could afford to give twenty percent back to the Lord. Actually they decided they could not afford not to and increased their percentage over the years. God has always been faithful and Jeff and Barbara have always had more than enough.
Originally from: Jewish Discoveries by Jeff Zaremsky, pages 222-223, which contains a total of 22 fascinating chapters of biblical history and lessons plus 25 rich Jewish tradition sections, and 27 powerful testimonies, with over 40 beautifully rendered professional works of art all on over 300 jam packed pages. You can own this treasure by visiting www.Jewishheritage.net
Picture originally found here
