270- The Windows of Heaven

Most of you know the scripture in Malachi 3:8-12 where the Lord promises that if we pay our tithing he will "open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

I'm here to tell my Windows on Heaven story tonight. Way back in 1997, at the bottom of the housing crash in Palmdale (Palmdale has a very volatile housing market with high peaks and "way down in the valley" lows) we were able to purchase this lovely house. We felt so blessed to be able to afford it, as we had been hit very hard by said crash. We lovingly restored our house with paint, carpet, landscaping, trees, more paint, wood floors, paths, more landscaping... etc. There was a lot of love and sweat in this happy house.


(our old Palmdale house today newly loved and painted by the newest owners)

I never thought I would leave Palmdale. We'd raised out *little* family there. We had dear friends and we'd put down deep roots in our 23 years. But then some of our dear friends announced that they were moving to Utah! Wait... how could that be? They were just as connected and rooted in Palmdale as we were. But Nancy explained that they were following the Prophet's counsel to get out of debt. I realized that our wonderful *blessing* home had become even more of a blessing since it had tripled in value! We, too, could sell our home that we loved, go to a cheaper housing market, buy a modest home and have it nearly paid for with the equity! After 18 years of paying child support I never thought we would ever get a paid for home. But here we are... nearly there. We owe less on our present home that many people rack up in a month on credit card debt!

What makes all of this so poignant to me is that the Palmdale-crash-cycle has continued. Less than a year after we sold our Palmdale home it had quadrupled in value!!! Some poor soul bought it and then the bottom dropped out of the market and they lost all. My *happy home* sat vacant for over a year. But it was just sold in July at one third of the market high! I hope that *my* happy home continues to be a safe haven for its current occupants.

Do I think that all of this was just a coincidence? Not in the least! The Lord honors his promises. When we obey He is bound to bless us! Will the blessings come right away? without any trials? Probably not, but when we do what is right and are obedient the Lord truly does open the windows of heaven and pours out a blessing that there is not room enough to receive. How grateful I am for that principle. How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father.