because we paid our tithing

It was always a running joke in our household growing up that when we were doing everything right, things always seemed to be much harder.  When we were doing all of the things the Lord asked of us, it felt as though Satan's influence was working so hard on our family.  As I've been married and started my own family, those same principles seem to ring true still.  For example, our car broke down this week because we paid our tithing.

On Tuesday last week, I was working all night long.  In my field of work, I have to be on call every other week.  My first call came in at midnight, got it finished around 2:00 AM.  Then my second call came in at 2:15 AM, got it wrapped up around 6:00 AM.  Then is was time to get ready for work.  I came in and worked most of the morning, then got really tired that afternoon and went home early to get a nap in.  I had to get JD from his office, so I headed back over to West Valley City to get JD.  On the way over there, the car felt really weird and the check engine light came on.  I felt it was probably nothing and pushed it out of my mind.  JD then started the car to head home and the lights came on again.  We decided to go home and get out the warranty paperwork for the car and head to the dealership to see what the issue was.

When we arrived home, we gathered all of the paperwork and realized the warranty was only good for 12,000 miles.  We instantly panicked thinking we were out of warranty as we've had this car for about 9 months.  Turns out, we were within 100 miles of our warranty limit because we paid our tithing. 

After realizing we would still be able to get some work done, JD wanted to get the car over to the dealership right away.  But, our car wouldn't start.  By some miracle, one of our home teachers was home from work early and jump started the car for us because we paid our tithing.

JD got the car to the dealership and found that our alternator was shot, the battery was completely drained and our left front axle had to be replaced.  Honestly, the mechanic had not idea how we got the car there.  He said this car shouldn't have been able to be jump started.  But it did, because we paid our tithing.

The work was going to be over $2,500 to fix without the warranty (I about went into cardiac arrest and was fully prepared to just buy another car).  However, we were still (just barely) within warranty, so that amount was cut by over 75% of what we would have had to pay for the repairs because we paid our tithing.

Basically, life sucked last week because we paid our tithing.  But we were also granted so many blessings and saw infinite amounts of love by those around us and the love God has for us because we paid our tithing.

To those who faithfully and honestly live the law of tithing, the Lord promises an abundance of blessings. Some of these blessings are temporal, just as tithes are temporal. But like the outward physical ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, the commandment to pay tithing requires temporal sacrifice, which ultimately yields great spiritual blessings. - Elder Robert D. Hales