We gave the money back.

Remember Doug and the United Methodist Church in Johnson City?  They were generous and hospitable and helped us stay in a hotel when we asked for help.

At the time we rationalized it on the grounds that we never asked to be put up in a hotel.  It couldn’t have been our responsibility to deny the charity.

Our exact words were, “we’re just looking for anywhere inside to sleep”.  We would have been thrilled to be able to sleep on someone’s floor.  It wasn’t our fault they wanted to waste the money.

But, looking back on it, it was our responsibility to make sure that money was not wasted.

We could have directly asked if there was a floor that we could sleep on, we could have said, no, give that money to someone that needs it more.

But, the truth is, we were scared, and we didn’t know what else to do.

So we sent it back.

This is an example of when our rules didn’t align with our principles.

The rule that we were following was $32.25 per day, maximum, which is derived from our principle of being responsible with God’s resources and to try and help others over ourselves.

By following the money rule, we were breaking the principle.

We have abandoned the rules now.