One of the challenges of our mobile lifestyle is in giving our tithe to the church.  We decided when we started that we would give 5% every week to whatever church we attended and the other 5% every month to the Wedgewood Church where Tom is still a member.  Sometimes we aren’t sure that we want to give a check to a particular church, but we remember that our tithe is being given, first, to God and only secondly to the church.

Last week we attended the Oasis Church in Las Vegas.  We picked it because we could walk to it, which was a nice change after driving an hour to church every Sunday.  We also attended there back in January and enjoyed it.  We liked being back at a church with musical accompaniment to the songs – I had really missed that.  The sermon was okay but not particularly memorable.

The best part of the service was the offering.  When it was time for the basket to be passed among the 20 people gathered, the minister’s 3 year old grandson ran forward as quickly as he could to put his money in the basket.  Then he danced and smiled at everyone else as they put their money in the basket.  Everytime anyone put money in he said “Yay!”  You could tell he was delighting in his giving and the giving of others.

How often do we say “Yay!” when we give our offerings?  My favorite doxology is when the familiar words are sung to the tune of “Hernando’s Hideaway.”  When the congregation gets to the end of the tune and sings “Amen!” I could always hear people laughing quietly.  We don’t take enough joy in our giving – giving to God should be fun!  Laughter is appropriate when we are working as the body of Christ in a common cause.  Saying “Yay!” during the offering is a good thing.

How are you doing with your giving?  Are you a person who loves to give to God?  Do you give joyfully?