[Continued from a previous post]

We had opened our separate free checking account and named it “Benevolence”. We ordered two debit cards with that name imprinted on them; one for each of us.

The goal was to carry these in our individual wallets, and be ready for the next time either one of us saw someone in need. With whatever money we had previously set aside, we would be able to be a blessing to that person without it impacting “our budget”. We would now be proactively setting aside money in advance and having it impact our budget on the front end.

Because we were personally living on a month-to-month cash basis ourselves, we definitely had discussions about whether or not it was responsible for us to add this new line item in our budget.

Looking back, I am sad that we even had to have these discussions, but I don’t judge our old selves, because we did not know then what we know now. It seemed the general Christian and financial culture was to take...