11 July 2011

Pay Your Tithing and The Windows of Heaven Will be Opened

This is a post about tithing. Here is the story:
Tyson and I moved to a new apartment complex at the beginning of May. This new spot is two blocks from campus, the same price as our old place, in a way better neighborhood, and it has a dishwasher. Our old managers were not very happy that we decided to move. We told them we would not be renewing our contract in the allotted time stated by our contract. I think they were mad because we were not obligated to find someone to move into our place, we could just leave.
Moving day came and my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I spent all morning deep cleaning the house. I personally spent at least an hour in the bathroom on my hands and knees scrubbing the tub, toilet, and floors. Remember: I was five months preggo at the time. You try deep cleaning a bathtub at five months preggo. It ain't easy!
Now, our managers are really old. Like...way old. So their daughter usually handled the apartment affairs for them. She came to check the apartment before we handed over the keys and, except for a few things to be fixed, gave us the all-clear.
In our contract it stated that out of a $600 deposit they would keep $150 to have the carpets and windows professionally cleaned before the next tenants moved in. We had broken a light cover and lost a bolt to another so those needed to be replaced as well. We were expecting around $400 of the deposit to be sent to us. We received a check for $147. Needless to say, we were shocked! Apparently, the daughter felt like we hadn't done any cleaning and since she had to re-clean, she took the time/labor out of our deposit. She did this without providing us a cleaning check-list, telling us to fix things while she was in the apartment, or notifying us of what had to be re-cleaned. My father-in-law is an attorney and was not about to put up with their shenanigans. He sent a letter asking for a full account of what was deducted from our deposit and why. We got the list with things like "Dust on Vent" or "Crumbs in Oven", the time it took to clean, and the amount deducted. Dust on the intake vent? Really? You're going to charge us $20 for some dust? Uh-huh.
Father-in-law gets really passionate about things and wrote another letter saying that the accounting was ridiculous (I'm paraphrasing, here) and that we deserved more money. So we received another letter and check for $50. Um...not really what we had in mind. 
This brings us to a few weeks ago. Yeah. This has been going on for forever. Father-in-law had a chat with Tyson and me to discuss what we should do. I was all about taking the money and giving up the rest since the daughter was being dumb and I didn't want any more confrontation and I certainly did not want to sue them. I did think it was strange that all communication was going through the daughter instead of her parents, who were the actual managers. Father-in-law called our managers (Old Man and Old Woman) and talked with Old Man about what was going on. Old Man had no idea any of this had been going on. Old Woman and Daughter were supposedly handling the situation. Father-in-Law told Old Man what had been happening and Old Man said he would talk to his daughter and call my Father-in-Law back.
One week later (today), Father-in-Law receives a fax from Old Man. It said that if they received a letter from my Father-in-Law saying he wouldn't sue them (we weren't planning on it) they would send him a check for an additional $213, bringing our total deposit refund to $410. Tyson called me to give me the news and I was thrilled. I honestly didn't expect anything more but this is a true blessing. 
Yesterday, Tyson and I wrote some pretty hefty tithing checks. We spend a lot of weekends with his family so this was the first time we could pay tithing to our bishop in a while. I was mildly freaking out because we are trying to save for the baby and really needed that money. There was no question in my mind about paying our tithing but I was a little worried about paying rent, paying for baby, etc. The $213 we will be receiving is about as much as we paid in tithing and
fast offerings yesterday. When Tyson told me, I just started to cry. I never thought I would have a tithing story worthy of the Ensign (haha) but I feel God's love for Tyson, me, and our baby. He knows that we are doing our best and trying to be obedient.
3 Nephi 24:10 says "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
I feel like the heavens have been opened and my heart is not big enough to hold all the love that God is pouring out for me and for my family. I am grateful that God is bound by righteousness and that I can count on Him to help me if I am doing all I can to be obedient.

1 comment:

Ashley_Cameron said...

That is a great story! Cam and I have had a few of those too. It really tests us but in the end we are always so blessed. Thanks for sharing :)