My name is Ashley Schebo. I was born and raised in the countryside of northwestern Wisconsin. I grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist family with my mom, dad, and younger sister. I attended both public school and church school during my elementary years. During high school I remained at the local public school but ended up at Union College for undergraduate studies. There I chose to study education, worked in South Korea as a teacher for a few years after graduating, and now have been teaching at a Seventh-day Adventist school in Iowa for the past six years.
I would have to say that my parents definitely had an influence on me. It wasn’t easy financially yet my parents always wanted to give back to God what was His. They showed me that staying faithful, even in the difficult times, is of utmost importance.
God has shown me His faithfulness in countless ways throughout my life thus far. College definitely is a hard time financially for many people. But I still found it to be important that I paid tithe on whatever small income I might have during a month.
I remember specifically one instance during my senior year. My roommate and I were living off campus in a tiny apartment. Pay day came around the same time that bill payments were due. So all the bills and my tithes were paid and then the rest of the month I would need to be able to make it on whatever I had left in my bank account until the next month’s payday.
For some reason, this month I had only $20 left in my account. During that month, I would still have to pay for gas, food, and any other needs that arose. So, I decided to pray. Very hard.
My younger sister and I were planning to drive out to Colorado that month to visit my aunt and uncle over Thanksgiving. But that didn’t look like it was going to be able to happen, according to my bank account. One day, when I checked the mail, there was a letter from my aunt, the same one we were going to visit. Inside the envelope was a card. When I opened the card, out slipped a check!
It was enough money to get us out to Colorado and back, plus some extra to help me make it through the rest of the month’s expenses! In the card, my aunt wrote that she had just felt like she needed to send me this check for some reason, even though she knew it would be more than what we needed to pay for gas to get to Colorado. I was amazed! What made it even more amazing to me was that my aunt is an atheist, yet I believe God gave her that nudge. Not only does God show us His faithfulness – He can even show it to us through those who deny His existence.
Great is Thy faithfulness . . .
Ashley Schebo teaches at Andrews Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
