Would you believe it if I said I donated $20 during mass on Sunday after reading a bible verse and $6K appeared randomly?

Let’s repeat: from a church offering of $20 to a profit of $6,063.40, within three days.

Call it a coincidence; I don’t care. Maybe you think “$20 isn’t even that big of a donation”. Again, I don’t care what you think. I know God was behind this. Let me give you the context.

Since the Catholic church issues around child abuse, I’ve held back on donating at church in the last year of living in Australia. I justified in my mind that if I donated, I would be helping perpetuate the issues. I’ve found other ways to give back, mostly focused on family, bible apps, and feeding the homeless.

However, on Friday, my bible app showed me this bible verse from Malachi:

¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 3:10-12

I had to read the entire chapter to get a fuller context. God essentially says that if we don’t bring the entire tithe to his house, we are robbing him. But if we bring the entire tithe/offering to his house, he will reward us generously. It was a Friday when I read this.

So the Sunday that followed, I decided to donate again in church. Now I may have donated sporadically since moving to New York, when I can find coins or if they allow donating online where I would give $5 max. This time, however, since reading the verse, I had a $20 bill, so I decided to give the entire bill. I recall donating $20 to mass only once ever in my life. This was the second time after 16 years.

Fast-forward three days, and I’ve obviously forgotten about it all. I had just completed my Bible reading (Ezra 1) in the evening before bed when my husband casually told me, “Did you check your shares from company X? It went up.”

For context, these shares were bought nearly two years ago now. It hasn’t gone up since buying so it’s been stuck. When I grabbed my phone to check, I saw a green number, that reads +$6,063.40.

I got very excited. This was a new 52-week high. I showed it to my husband, and then I put in a bid to sell. It was sold, and I made a profit of $6,063.40.

Then I remembered the bible verse and the church donation. I was floored. I may have shed a few tears.

I felt even more guilty that I used the excuse of issues you hear from the catholic church to stop donating seriously. Of course, I don’t condone child abuse, but these are caused by a small group of priests. The church is still the church. The church is still God’s house. The church is still where we hear mass and learn from every week.

I had to say a prayer to ask for forgiveness but also to sing praises.

To my dear readers, I may have shared more details than I normally would. But I am moved by what just happened. So I had to share. Don’t judge the numbers but I hope you take inspiration from this. I will end with this verse from 2 Corinthians:

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Happy mid-week y’all!