Money matter

I was trained to tithe as soon as I learned to use money. As a child, if I would be given $1 on Sunday; mom and dad would have me put 10 cents in the offering basket.

A childhood episode that has stayed with me is being laughed at by Dad: I was probably still in elementary school, gladly counting and appreciating "my possession" (i.e. a stack of dollar coins and dimes) one evening at the folding table at home. (There was absolutely no privacy. Our whole family lived in a small unit where everything happened in the center of the 100-200 square ft unit.) Out of the blue, dad laughed and commented that I was like the "rich fool" (Luke 12:13-21) in the Bible. I'm probably the one person who still remembers that.

Another episode happened the summer after my family migrated to the U.S. I worked in a summer program teaching kids mathematics and Chinese. When I got my first pay check (which wasn't a lot), I gave 25% to church. I remembered the "shocked" expression on both the church pastor's and my dad's faces separately. They clearly didn't expect that.

I am not writing it down to boast. On the contrary, I felt bad for being insensitive to my parents. My family's financial situation had never been good and was kind of at a rough spot that particular moment. What I come to appreciate and want to remember is the fact that dad said nothing to discourage my ignorance, and let me do whatever offering amount I felt right. I guess he felt that my giving to God was more important. That was something.

p.s. It's been a year already. It was Jan 26 last year when Dad's aneurysm ruptured, which led to his hospitalization and coma ....