When preparing to move from North Carolina to Massachusetts in 2014, Mich and Marina didn’t have the money to move so far and to such an expensive area. As a result, they decided to “borrow” from their tithe with the intent of paying God back as soon as they could. However, they fell behind significantly in their efforts to do this and were still not caught up by the end of the year. They made this their top priority during the first couple months of 2015, and, three days after they got their tithe paid up to date, Mich received a 10% raise at work, far exceeding the typical 2-3% increase.
In March 2015, Mich and Marina were in their first small group at Lifesong. At the time, they had decided to sell their house in North Carolina. As they prepared to list it, they asked for prayer one night at small group, even though this pushed them well out of their comfort zone, and they received multiple offers the Friday it was listed and were under contract before the end of the weekend!
As they prepared to move again in 2017, they were dealing with a tighter budget than they had in a while, and Marina had opportunities for extra income teaching ultrasound courses in New York four to six weekends per year. The next one was April 29-30, and, though they really needed the money, they sensed the Lord direct them to serve instead at the LIFE retreat and water baptism services that same weekend. Three days after they committed to do this, Marina received her regular paycheck and felt she needed to give 20% of it rather than just the 10% tithe. She was obedient, and the very next day Mich got a 20% salary increase at work! Both in 2015 and in 2017, Mich received his raises without asking for them or receiving a promotion, which is almost unheard of at his company.