Candace Nassar (00:00.396)
Well, welcome, MomQ family. Today, I am thrilled to be talking with Anita McGinnis, the gifted speaker, Bible teacher, and women’s ministry director. Y’all, Anita is the real deal. She truly shines the light of Jesus wherever she goes. Her greatest joy is discipling women and watching them open the gift of grace God has for them and walk in the freedom Christ brings. She never meets a stranger.
Anita McGinnis (00:21.896)
Hmm.
Candace Nassar (00:28.704)
and has the most generous spirit and servant’s heart. She and her husband, who’s a pastor, have sacrificially dedicated the past 34 years of their lives to building God’s kingdom. And as we enter the season of giving, Anita and I are going to have an open and honest conversation about why and how God calls us to be generous. We’re going to talk about the misconceptions around giving as well as why it’s so hard for some of us to be generous.
Anita will also share what God has taught her personally about giving. I’m excited for her to share her insights and heart with you today. So welcome Anita.
Anita McGinnis (01:07.01)
welcome. My goodness. I’m not sure who that is you just described, but thank you. I love it. It is an honor and a blessing to be here with you today, Candace. Thank you for having me.
Candace Nassar (01:11.192)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (01:18.37)
Thank you so much for coming on. So let’s have you start by introducing yourself to our listeners and telling us a little bit about your family.
Anita McGinnis (01:26.081)
All right, I sure will.
Well, as you said, I’m Anita McGinnis and I’ve been married to Bill, my husband for 34 years and we really have. We’ve been in ministry from the moment really that once we got married, and he finished up his masters. We went to seminary. He went to seminary and I went there and supported him. But from that time, we have been in ministry together. We have four kids. They are all married now, which is amazing. We had four kids in four and a half years, which I
Candace Nassar (01:53.0)
Yes.
Anita McGinnis (01:57.512)
I always say that because they were all very close together. It was a lot of fun but I still go, “How did that happen?” I don’t do math very well. Anyway,they’re all married as I said and we have two grandsons. They’re about to be three and one. Currently, right now I am serving as the Women’s Minister at Austin Baptist Church and truly just loving it and humble to be serving alongside
Candace Nassar (02:05.914)
How did you survive?
Anita McGinnis (02:27.446)
the staff and really for the women there at Austin Baptist Church. My background is broadcast news, which is funny. I’ve always been, I’ve loved being the interviewer, if you will, and going to get the stories. God changed that though. He said, “You’re going to tell my story. You’re going to broadcast the good news.” So that’s been kind of fun that I love getting to do that as well. So that’s kind of me in a nutshell right now.
Candace Nassar (02:40.792)
You
Candace Nassar (02:54.838)
Very good, love it. Well, okay, so let’s jump in and at the end of the year, we’ve got a couple months left. Hard to believe, huh? Really crazy. Yeah, well, it’s a time when a lot of people give financial gifts to support various ministries and causes. It’s kind of, it’s called the giving season often. So let’s talk about it. Let’s start off by saying, what is biblical generosity? How would you describe that?
Anita McGinnis (02:59.37)
Okay.
Yeah, I know. I’m not sure how we’re in November.
Anita McGinnis (03:23.799)
Yeah.
I think, you know, only God could do this, Candace, at this time because my church is going through a generosity initiative at this time. And you know me, I’m going to start with the story per se, then I’ll get it down to maybe a biblical definition, if you will. But what I’ve seen and what I’ve watched over this last month or so has just been biblical generosity played out before me. It’s amazing. We have our reveal Sunday this Sunday, and I’m not going to give anything away because I don’t know the number.
I do know we have exceeded well beyond what we had put out as a goal. And I go back to say, because we’ve been able to watch these stories from people who helped seed this church, who were looking forward to the generations now, who they’re planning for, for these children that are there, and to watch what they did then and what they’re continuing to do now. And even some of those founding members have since passed, but we’re able to share what their generosity did for the church now. So watching that play out and I think even more so watching the kids learn what it means to be. They’ve had these little…
piggy banks per se, if you will. Looks like a little church, little something for them to put their money in. And sometimes we forget that we can be teaching our children at a very young age what it means to be generous and how we give to the church. One kid was so excited. He had done something or she had done something for a neighbor and they paid her a dollar. And she’s like, I’m gonna save all this other for me, but I’m gonna go put my quarter in.
Candace Nassar (04:51.384)
That’s right.
Anita McGinnis (05:07.19)
in my little bank for the church I wanna give back. to watch the generosity be transcended down through generations, I think it’s been huge. So I’ll go back and say that biblical generosity truly is a selfless act that we’re giving out of joy and out of love for others. And it’s for God ultimately for his kingdom, for his purposes. And I don’t think we can look at it through, it’s just a transaction or it’s an obligation.
It’s out of a relationship that we have with him and that we give from our heart. I don’t know, yeah, it is.
Candace Nassar (05:43.362)
That’s right. It’s really a heart posture of just recognizing that everything we have comes from God and it all belongs to Him and He asks us to steward it on His behalf. And so it’s just, like you said, we’re pouring out love towards others and it’s just a response to the grace that God has given us. So.
Anita McGinnis (05:53.391)
Yeah.
Anita McGinnis (05:57.593)
Exactly.
Anita McGinnis (06:06.167)
It is. Yes, it’s reflecting back His grace that He gave us.
Candace Nassar (06:12.136)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Another thing too is we can find as families, as people, when we invest in kingdom work like that, that’s where we find true riches, right?
Anita McGinnis (06:20.348)
you
Anita McGinnis (06:25.853)
It’s true. It’s true. These stories, like I said, yeah, have been so heartwarming and to see what they have built literally and figuratively for all these next generations through their generous giving has been quite amazing to see it lived out. Yeah. That’s good. Yeah. Yeah, not always, but we know.
Candace Nassar (06:43.01)
That’s so great and we know that God’s gonna reward that in heaven and sometimes on earth, not always, but He’ll reward it somehow for sure. So, okay, so how are we supposed to give? What would you say to that? What is your church promoting with all of this?
Anita McGinnis (06:53.252)
Right. Right.
Anita McGinnis (06:58.354)
Wha-
Anita McGinnis (07:02.366)
In terms of generosity. Well, we’ll go back to, we look at if you’re thinking of giving a tenth, right? If we’re gonna give a tenth to the church, that’s the Old Testament, that’s a biblical.
Candace Nassar (07:04.278)
Mm-hmm.
Anita McGinnis (07:19.581)
Back in the Old Testament and then now I still believe that’s a guideline for us to give today. And what they were looking at was that it’s more so than just giving your 10th but that generosity initiative was going above and beyond that. So it wasn’t just this giving but it was more than that.
Candace Nassar (07:34.466)
Mmm.
Anita McGinnis (07:41.989)
Members were being asked to give if that’s what God was leading them to. And once again, we go back, it’s all God’s, but it’s also down to the cheerful heart. It’s not just that I need to check this box or boy, I better, you know, out of obligation do this, but it’s out of a true relationship with the Lord and a prayerful relationship and that I will give this now in a generous way.
Candace Nassar (08:06.486)
Yes, generously. I think of the widow and how she gave out of the sacrifice and Jesus noticed, you know, all the rich people putting their money in, but it was nothing for them. And she gave everything she had. That’s real generosity, right?
Anita McGinnis (08:10.971)
Anita McGinnis (08:16.784)
Yes.
Anita McGinnis (08:23.312)
Right. It was her heart that he saw. Right. Right. And what he would do with that and bless it. And I think that’s one of the things that we forget. I think so many times we think, my goodness, I don’t have enough to give her. This is not that much. And I just, you know, we serve an amazing God. It’s His anyway. He can take what we have and make it so much more than we ever thought or imagined. So absolutely.
Candace Nassar (08:47.64)
That’s absolutely true. I just think of just giving worshipfully. That out of just praising back to Him that He is our focus and that keeps us giving out of gratitude. And one of the things I think about too is in our society and our culture, you know, we have so much in this country.
Anita McGinnis (08:54.417)
Yes.
Anita McGinnis (09:13.822)
Mmm.
Candace Nassar (09:15.384)
And we forget that because we get so caught up in what culture tells us that we need, when really in fact we don’t need most of what we think we do, right?
Anita McGinnis (09:22.156)
Yeah. No, we don’t. One of the things, Candace, that I’ve loved…
that God always brings me back to and it may not be a scripture that many people think of as in giving, but they probably do. But I go back to John 3:16 and it says, “God so loved that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life.” And I have to go back to that kind of like you’re saying, He loved us so much from the beginning, wanted a relationship with us so much that He gave His best. He gave His only son for us. So there are times when, especially in these times of giving and we’re hitting on Thanksgiving, a time, like you said, of gratitude, and then we’re getting ready to go into the Christmas season where we do give to others. So, I often think, “Okay, let’s reverse that scripture.” And I’ll say, “For Anita, so loved God that she gave.”
Why am I giving back to Him? And sometimes it is, He’s asking me, maybe you are to go above and beyond right now. Maybe He’s placed a family on my heart. Maybe He’s asking of time. Maybe He’s asking of resources. But I always go back to that, especially during this time, and just reflect that Jesus, He came for us. God gave Him as a sacrificial and generous gift.
Candace Nassar (10:41.964)
you
Anita McGinnis (10:56.36)
So I go back and say, “He gave it all.” So, I want to reflect back and go, “Okay, how much of my loving God?” You know, that I love Him enough that I want to give back to Him.
Candace Nassar (11:09.112)
That’s so beautiful. That’s so beautiful. I just, I personally, in my family, my husband has the gift of giving. So he has always been super generous ever since I met him. And it’s just, he’s always wanting to go above and beyond. Whereas me, on the other hand, I’m not so much like that. And you know, it’s…
Anita McGinnis (11:33.214)
you
Candace Nassar (11:34.38)
I mean, I’ve always supported and gone along with him because I’m thankful for him because he convicts, his heart convicts me. But one verse that I often need to read and remind myself is First Timothy
6:10,”For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Anita McGinnis (11:44.007)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (11:51.762)
Mm-hmm. Mmm.
Candace Nassar (12:01.385)
I actually saw that in my own family of origin where my family just loved money and it became the whole reason that they existed. I have to fight that off and, just wanting that materialism and, now, like right now I want a new dining room set, but you know what? It’s the season of giving. So I’m going to let that go, you know.
Anita McGinnis (12:04.935)
Mmm.
Anita McGinnis (12:14.928)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (12:20.423)
Yeah
Anita McGinnis (12:24.222)
you
Candace Nassar (12:27.26)
No, really, it is, really hard to, in our society, I mean, it’s through the Holy Spirit. And that’s what I have to pray for, is that the Holy Spirit will help me just give that up and surrender that because how ridiculous, that’s treasure on earth. It’s not going to go anywhere and it’s not going to matter.
Anita McGinnis (12:39.72)
Right.
Right. It’s not. And I think it’s funny because we do. I think some do have that gift of generosity.
And a lot of times I do too. Of course, Bill, even in seminary, at times he’s like, what are you doing? And God was always so faithful. We think, we don’t have enough and we would give and sure enough, a check or something would come in the mail. But I think also, like you’re saying, we’re fearful whether money is something that gives us security, if you will. And then we’re like, I like that security and I like having this control.
Candace Nassar (13:00.152)
you
Candace Nassar (13:16.492)
Yes.
Anita McGinnis (13:23.756)
You know, we don’t want to hold it loosely sometimes, you know, for others or for Him. We want to hold onto that for that security for us. Then it’s like saying, “We don’t trust you Lord.” I’ll go back and talk about dining room furniture. There was a time I was doing a Daniel study and we had just moved into a house and there was really a need there. I needed to cover some of the windows, especially on the first
floor but I was doing the study of Daniel and one of the things it was saying it was like you need to fast something I’m thinking good I’ll fast some food because I had like some big event coming up you know I’m thinking well I’ll be good and God said.” No no no no. That’s not food that you’re gonna need to fast.” He’s like, “You’ve had your focus on wanting to get these windows covered and everything for this house and He’s like, “You’re not to buy a thing for this house and I was like,
Candace Nassar (14:21.272)
Mm.
Anita McGinnis (14:23.836)
“Okay, all right Lord.” Because this, our room, was on the first floor with this very thin little like paper blind that was up there that would fall at the most inopportune times, but I trusted him and I’ll get to the end of the story. I had to go through this whole study, right? And so I got through this whole study and about towards the end of it. I had not bought a thing for the house. was like a three month thing.
My mom had called me she goes, “Hey, we got some new blinds in our sunroom and so I’ll be getting rid of these custom-made wood blinds. I had been just looking at vinyl blinds and things thinking we’ll just get that and I’m thinking, “Yeah, that’s great mom. I mean save them. It’s just no way that those were going to work. They were custom-made for that house. I was like, there’s no way those are gonna fit. So we end up going for Thanksgiving or something.
Candace Nassar (15:10.363)
Mm.
Candace Nassar (15:18.369)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (15:23.406)
We pick up these blinds, I bring them back, I’m like, we’ll just see how it goes. Candace, my entire house except one window door was covered with those wood blinds. I kid you not. And so I say, you know, it’s just so funny to watch how God does, you know, and I’m not going to say I don’t want to get in that prosperity gospel and I know we’ll talk about that in a minute, but I do think when our hearts are yielded to Him and we’re acting in
Candace Nassar (15:37.709)
my gosh.
Anita McGinnis (15:53.256)
obedience to Him. It’s fun to watch what He does. That was way more fun to see Him cover my entire house with these amazing real wood blinds so much more so than what I was going to, you know, pick out from Target and Walmart. I mean, so I just say that. So you just never know how He’s going to turn around and give back.
Candace Nassar (16:10.924)
That’s incredible.
Candace Nassar (16:15.466)
Yeah, I mean, you trusted Him, right? And that’s really, that’s what it comes down to. Just like so many things in our walk with the Lord is just He says, “Trust Me in this.”
Anita McGinnis (16:19.567)
right.
It is.
Anita McGinnis (16:27.854)
And like you were saying, there are so many things that we think we want or need, but if we hold those things loosely for Him, if we don’t hold too tightly to what we think we need or want and allow Him to work, it’s amazing what He does.
Candace Nassar (16:43.518)
Amen. Gosh. And I think of our models in the New Testament when there were so many people that just gave everything they had so generously, Not their money, their time, their everything. And one of my favorite verses is when Paul is writing to the Corinthians talking about the Macedonians.
Anita McGinnis (16:50.788)
Hmm. Yes.
Anita McGinnis (17:00.009)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (17:06.184)
Yes. Yes. And they gave out of their poverty.
Candace Nassar (17:12.812)
They gave out of their poverty. And he says, you know, that’s a model for you. And so it’s really, you know, we in this country, we’re mostly all very, we have, you know, if we have food on our table and a roof over our head, then we have more than most of the world. So it’s just good reminders, right? Really good reminders. So, yeah. So, okay. So you touched on it a little bit. You said that we were supposed to get, we give
Anita McGinnis (17:28.807)
Right. It is a good reminder. Absolutely.
Anita McGinnis (17:36.529)
Okay.
Candace Nassar (17:41.302)
monetarily, but we also give of our talents and time. So what are, what is Jesus talking about when we have the parable of the talents and where he’s talking about, you know, we have gifts that we are to give and not to hide under our mattress or whatever, not just financially, but also, you know, our, how to serve, serving the body.
Anita McGinnis (17:53.555)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (18:00.202)
Mmm.
Hahaha
Candace Nassar (18:10.4)
So let’s talk about that for a second.How do you look at that?
Anita McGinnis (18:10.686)
Right.
Anita McGinnis (18:16.144)
Okay, well, you know, I’m gonna once again use an example and I love it because it’s MomQ, right? I mean, it iis one of the greatest ways that I see time and talent and some resources being used that is not monetarily. We have these mentoring moms who are taking their time to pour into the lives of these younger moms. I think that is an excellent example as I think about that. So many times I think it goes back kind of like with
Candace Nassar (18:23.383)
Yes.
Candace Nassar (18:42.018)
Mm-hmm.
Anita McGinnis (18:46.098)
money. Same thing we’re like, if I give this away, will I still have enough? And I think we’ll do the same thing. If I give this time away, if I give this talent away, if I give this resource away, am I still going to have enough time for me? Am I still going to be able? We do have to have boundaries. That’s not what I’m talking about. But sometimes we’re so scared. If I give this away, am I still going to have enough left for me? And I think what we find if we are being obedient to what God has asked us. And if we’ve been prayerful about it and He’s asking us to give it away, He’s going to make sure we have what we need, both for the who we’re giving to and for us as well. So I don’t know if that answers the question completely, but I really think, you know, our resources and our talents are not also something to be holding on tightly to, but to be given away as well.
Candace Nassar (19:34.552)
I love it.
Candace Nassar (19:43.938)
That’s right. I love that. And I think, you know, we all have gifts that God has ordained in our lives to serve the body. And if we’re holding back, if we’re not, if we’re not pouring out and using the gift that He’s given us, then the body is incomplete in a sense. You know, we’re not doing our part.
Anita McGinnis (19:51.55)
Yeah. Yeah.
Anita McGinnis (20:00.554)
I wish.
Yes, there it is in the message and I don’t have it right before me, but I love the way that it talks about the body of Christ when we’re using all of our gifts and all of our parts are working together rhythmically and it produces this beautiful orchestra. So when we’re withholding a part of our gift, there’s a clink and a clank and we’re missing a note somewhere and it’s not this beautiful symphony that’s playing. But when all the body of Christ is using their gifts and they’re all working together. All the notes are being played and we’re not just hitting on one note or we’re missing a note somewhere. Then it becomes this beautiful symphony. Yeah. Yeah.
Candace Nassar (20:42.52)
That’s gorgeous. Love that so much. Yeah, I mean, I just think we’re again, it’s a trust, right? Today we feel so busy and we just can’t carve out one more thing. But I’ve just seen it in my life that when I trust God with what He’s called me to do, He gives so far more back to me time wise things that.
Anita McGinnis (20:50.442)
Anita McGinnis (20:55.662)
Isn’t that true?
Anita McGinnis (21:09.378)
Yeah.
Candace Nassar (21:09.482)
It just goes smoothly that, you know, I didn’t know if they would and just all of that kind of thing, right? It just works out. He works it out. Yeah. So, so how, why do you think it’s so hard? Well, I think we’ve kind of already covered that, that’s why it’s so hard for us to, to give some of us to give, but I mean, really it comes down to a trust factor, but what are, what are some other benefits of giving?
Anita McGinnis (21:15.042)
Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.
Anita McGinnis (21:25.516)
Yeah.
Anita McGinnis (21:32.586)
Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (21:37.91)
With being generous with our finances.
Anita McGinnis (21:40.456)
My goodness, okay, so I have a couple of things. One, I think there’s just freedom in Christ again. Like, if you keep holding onto something that you know you’re supposed to be giving, there’s not a peace within, right? So when we’re able to give, I feel like there’s this peace and there’s this freedom that you’ve done what He’s asked of you. I’ll go back, you know me, I have another story. So when I was working….
This is a whole other podcast for another day or actually a story with us. I was working as a lunch lady and I know this was not, this was just a few years. I know, I know it was an act of obedience. I was supposed to do. I worked with this amazing woman in the lunchroom. had never done anything like this, but we had moved to a new church and I needed something, but I needed something flexible. That’s a whole long story. But to get to the point, the lady that I worked with was a solid believer. mean, and really this was her ministry, if you will.
Candace Nassar (22:17.058)
Okay.
Anita McGinnis (22:40.44)
And so it’s just the two of us in this lunchroom. There’s a lot of fun. But we were in need of a car for one of our kids. She had had a car wreck and they were getting ready to sell a car and I mean there those that kept it I mean so good, you know every maintenance and every record and all that it’s like my goodness. It’s like, “Don’t sell it. We’d love to buy that from you.” They’re like, “Okay.”
Candace Nassar (22:43.148)
God bless. Yeah.
Anita McGinnis (23:10.0)
They give us the price and then they keep lowering the price. We’re like, “Y’all are crazy.” Like we know what it’s worth, you know? So finally like, no, this is it. So we give them the check. So here’s where I’m talking about the peace. So we were just thankful we got this amazing car and this is fantastic. So we had gone through the whole summer, we came back to the cafeteria, Bill and her husband were friends and he said, “I need to have breakfast with you. I need to talk to you about something.”. And so Bill comes back and he tells me, he says, “Kevin hasn’t been able to sleep the entire summer because he was supposed to give us that car.” I’m like, “What?” So not only, you know, for him, he had to go back and be obedient and say,
Candace Nassar (23:56.02)
my god.
Anita McGinnis (24:07.582)
I want the peace greater than I want that money. I mean, Bill argued with him. He’s like, “No, no, no.” He’s like, “I need to sleep and I need the peace.” And it was just one of those moments to him like, first of all, who gets a car? But then here he was going, “I messed up on this one. I was withholding what I think God was asking me to give.” So he went those three months and it’s like, “Here, please, please take it.”
Candace Nassar (24:11.64)
and
Anita McGinnis (24:36.958)
I go back to that. That there is something to giving, that there is just a peace that comes with it, that only God can give. And I don’t share that one a lot because it feels a little, you’re like, “My goodness, who gets a car?” And I don’t want to…
Candace Nassar (24:43.977)
That’s such a crazy story.
Yeah, when.
Anita McGinnis (25:00.482)
I don’t know, it’s just, that’s a hard thing sometimes to receive. So we also had to learn how to receive and then also allow him to have his peace that he needed.
Candace Nassar (25:11.212)
Yes, that’s a great story. You know, I realize that there are some misconceptions about giving that I think we probably should talk about for a minute. So, and you’re just saying that makes me think about, you know, people who think that if I give that I will get back. It’s a transactional thing. So, what would you say about that? What are some misconceptions about giving?
Anita McGinnis (25:18.126)
Mmm. Yes.
Anita McGinnis (25:28.64)
Hmm
Anita McGinnis (25:37.982)
Obviously, you hit it that if I give, I’m automatically going to get something back in return. And you’ve already said too, and I totally agree, everything we have is God’s. Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down to us. And all that we have is already His. I think sometimes we can, and I thought about that. Looked it up, it was Proverbs 11:25. It’s a proverb. It says, “A generous person will prosper,
refreshes others will be refreshed. And sometimes we take the Proverbs as a promise rather than, you know, it’s a principle and is a great principle to live by because oftentimes when we are generous, things do come back. But that doesn’t always, that isn’t always the case. God’s not always saying, do this and I’m going to give back to you. A lot of times, like you said, it’s out of being obedient, it’s out of trust and doing what he’s asking us to do. So it’s not saying that you’re automatically going to give,
something back. I think we touched on it that we think, I don’t have enough, but the widows might and that was greater than anything that anybody big gave that day that God looked at her. You know, I think sometimes we think, well they’re just giving to be recognized and you know Jesus warns us of that. You know, you’re not doing this for the approval of man when you give to the poor. I think it’s in Matthew 6:1-4.
It’s not to sound the trumpet and look at me and look at me giving. It’s to be done humbly and quietly and obediently. But yeah, I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that we will be rewarded for that.
Candace Nassar (27:27.35)
Right. Like you said, if we’re called to give and God’s put that on our heart, then if we don’t, then we’re not going to have peace. So, yeah, so good. So as we are starting to wrap up, I want to cover, I’ve had some moms tell me that they are a little bit confused about tithing, how much…
Anita McGinnis (27:35.766)
Yeah, that’s true.
Anita McGinnis (27:49.184)
Hmm, okay.
Candace Nassar (27:51.18)
You know, we were talking about that earlier, and I love what you said, that 10 % is really a starting point, although we’re not under the law per se as New Testament Christians. God didn’t say not to tithe anymore. In fact, it’s almost like because of the Holy Spirit, we even have more, we should even have more conviction, right? And so I think about what the Bible calls us to give to the poor and needy. We want to give to other ministries.
Anita McGinnis (27:53.347)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Candace Nassar (28:20.384)
And that’s what we were talking about, the above and beyond, right? Is that how you would take that?
Anita McGinnis (28:25.826)
That’s how I would take it. I think you…
I agree completely with you that the Old Testament from the beginning with Cain and Abel showed us what to get the first fruits. It shows us to give a tenth. And then that’s a specific, like you said, that’s a good guideline for us to go by. I do believe that that tenth goes to the church. And then I feel, as you said, for all these other things that we want to help participate in, whether it’s a…
Candace Nassar (28:49.144)
Mm-hmm.
Anita McGinnis (28:58.614)
an organization you want to give to, whether it’s a specific family, God, whatever God lays on your heart, that that’s above and beyond the tenth that you would be given.
Candace Nassar (29:10.688)
Yeah, yeah and I think about you know sometimes people think well I can take my tenths and I can divide that between the church and other causes but really I mean it’s the church is the primary meter of needs in the community right and so that’s that’s how God has ordained us to primarily give and and so I like what you’re saying there that we give to the church and then anything
Anita McGinnis (29:29.698)
Right.
Candace Nassar (29:39.827)
that we can do beyond that would go to the poor and other ministries and we should be given to gospel-centered ministries. I mean there’s really too many great ones out there, there’s no reason to, I mean it doesn’t mean you can’t give to the Red Cross or other things like that, but yeah I think we should be.
Anita McGinnis (29:46.221)
Right?
Anita McGinnis (29:54.83)
Right, right. There’s, and if you go to the New Testament to Acts 4:32 through 35, when the first church, you know, was established, they gave it all. And we kind of forget that one. We kind of just want to, you know, yeah, they gave it all so that everybody could have enough. And, and that’s, that’s something, you know, it was like, wow.
They didn’t hold back. Right, and I really don’t want to step into that one because it’s going to step on my toes too much. But that is something for us to look at as to how the early church did give it all so that all could be taken care of. They had the koinonia, that’s where that word comes from, and they had everything in common. Not only the relationship with Christ, the relationship with each other, but the relationship with all these other things.
Candace Nassar (30:24.504)
That is so convicting.
Candace Nassar (30:33.378)
Anita McGinnis (30:54.32)
They had that in common.
Candace Nassar (30:56.736)
Right. And you know, I love it because if you think about where you’re giving your money, right? Meaning, again, we go back to what Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And so those things that we’re giving our money to, we’re investing in our heart is going to be with those things and we’re going to be rooting for them and praying for them and and be excited when to watch what the Lord is doing. Right. And I know, I mean, we have some very generous MomQ givers.
Anita McGinnis (31:07.579)
Yes.
Anita McGinnis (31:11.46)
Hmm.
Anita McGinnis (31:16.856)
Ugh.
Anita McGinnis (31:22.296)
Yes.
Candace Nassar (31:26.346)
I know that we send out updates and they’re always asking me, you know, what’s the latest, right? Because, I mean, that’s their treasure. But they’re storing it up for heaven because what we do is we pour into generations, right? We’re helping moms raise godly families and that is a generational return. And there are so many great ministries out there that do great, great things.
Anita McGinnis (31:34.329)
Yeah? Yes. Right.
Anita McGinnis (31:42.861)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Anita McGinnis (31:49.167)
Hmm.
Anita McGinnis (31:52.642)
I love it.
These are the things like you said, these are of eternal value, right? These things that we’re pouring into, that God’s asking us to, are of eternal value that we may not get to see once again the blessing on this side, but we will see it on the other side. And I love that because you’re also are connecting with each other.
Candace Nassar (31:59.479)
Right.
Candace Nassar (32:13.634)
Anita McGinnis (32:19.296)
As you said, not just in, if you will, a transaction type thing, but in a giving. It becomes a heart of the matter where you’re praying for that person, for that organization, for that church, for whatever it is that you’ve been given to.
Candace Nassar (33:32.215)
Okay. Well, Anita, as we wrap up, is there anything that you would want to share with our listeners today to encourage them to be generous or maybe just one more story about how God has blessed your family for being generous? What would you leave us with today?
Anita McGinnis (33:50.335)
I would leave you with be prayerful about what God’s asking of you and then be obedient in following through with it. Hold these things loosely because he’s going to take them and use them for his greater good. If we hold it tightly, whether it’s in our resources, whether it’s in our finances, it may make you feel good for the moment, but it may not give you that peace and that freedom that you want in Him to get to see it multiply.
Let your kids see you give, I think that’s important. I got to see that early on as a youngster going to church. I mean, some of you may remember we had envelopes and you got to fill out, yes, I went to church. I mean, we can’t get into, you know, our little check marks, but there was a part of that that I went to church and I went to Sunday school and here’s my tithe. I love being able to put that in the offering because you mentioned it too, that this is an act of worship that we’re doing for God too.
Giving back to Him and saying, “You own it. You own it all and I’m giving it back to You.” God has provided for us in so many ways. I think so many times, Candace, even at night when I lay down this, I’m just like, “Thank you God for my bed.” I mean, and I think of so many people who don’t have a bed to lay on that night, whether it’s in my city or whether it’s across the world. And time and time again, God has been faithful. I will leave you with this one last story.
Anita McGinnis (35:25.086)
We have four kids, so my son was married and it was great. And it’s totally different though when a girl gets married because you’re the one doing all the wedding, right? And it’s a lot more of an expense. We knew that this wedding was going to be coming. And at the time we knew that the boyfriend was going to be asking our daughter, Mary Allison, to be married. But we were like, “Okay, Lord, we know this is
coming and how are going to be paying for this wedding?” And so it was just one of those things we kept praying about. like, you know, we had a couple of options that we could do, but it was just like, “Okay, God, you’re I know you’re going to provide in a way and you’ll show us how to do it.” We did not withhold anything back like, you know what, we’ll keep this back and we’ll keep saving so that we have enough for this wedding. So we continued to pray about it. And we had a sweet cousin, Bill’s cousin, who had passed.
Literally you talk about a widow’s might. She was a single woman, so she wasn’t a widow, but she’d never been married. She worked for special needs up in the Appalachian Mountains. So there just wasn’t a lot of financial means, right? But she loved Bill and his sister and his parents, because they really helped take care of her. When she passed, she ended up leaving what little she had to Bill and his sister.
We were like, it was, anyway, his sister was gonna have to take care of all the estate and do everything, because we were out of town living at the time. We’re like,” Angela, just take it all.” Like, whatever you need to do to get this settled, because we knew it would cost money and all that, we’re just not gonna worry about it. Do what you need. So we never thought another thing about it. And right before Mary Allison was to be engaged, all of a sudden this check comes in the mail.
And we were like, what is this check? And it was a significant amount of money that Angela had not told us. She ended up having some leftover and she sent it to us. And we were like, “God only you could do this right before.” Because we kept thinking, I knew Mary Allison’s question would be like, “Mom, how are y’all going to be able to pay for this wedding? And I was able to say, “We’ve got enough.”
Candace Nassar (37:31.736)
Anita McGinnis (37:51.456)
And it was just God who sent it at the right time. We weren’t expecting it. We never even thought another thing about it. And I just say keep trusting and believing and keep giving to him. And it says in Malachi, the only time that it says to test God is in Malachi. It says, “Test me in this. Bring your tithes to the storehouse and watch me pour out the blessings on that.” Once again, I don’t want to get into the prosperity gospel- that if I do this and I get that,
Candace Nassar (37:51.695)
my gosh.
Anita McGinnis (38:21.536)
But trust Him with all of your resources from finances to time to your talents and see what He’s going to do with it.
Candace Nassar (38:29.909)
Amazing. Love it. Thank you so much, Anita. It’s been a great conversation. i hope that you have a great rest of your day and I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.
Anita McGinnis (38:38.569)
Well, thank you, Candace. Bye-bye.
