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  Tithing of Your TalentsTuesday, March 19th, 2024  
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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