LTDL--I Hope This Has Been Helpful

If you are flying internationally, avoid using an American-based arlines. They are getting too firm on their policies, all of which continually involve cutting back on service and adding more and more fees. European airlines tend to be more human. You have been warned.
I’m going to be spending a lot of money on flying I guess. If I want to see r at Christmas and pick him up and fly him back for the summer, that’s three tickets a year. I would like to even visit him in the spring if I could. My first tickets here were not paid for by me, as someone had a fanciful interest in my going.
That person has no idea of the economics that were involved in its impetus. I spent a lot of my own money is the short version, but also I didn’t want to come here to Arizona and leave Ricky.
I built a home with V in the first nine or so years of our marriage. The apartment itself and the damned furniture for it that took any excess money we had. I never had money in my pocket, and had to ask for any or steal from her purse. It seemed like everything was always breaking, too.
My struggle with our finances was on two points: one to pay legal taxes; two to tithe—give 10% of my income to a local church. Paying legal taxes in Poland was my first goal. I didn’t see how we could expect to be prosperous and have a totally clear conscience. There is a lot of tax corruption in Poland, probably more per capita than in the US. When I insisted to V several times that we pay legal taxes on our business, she became so bothered and adamant about it that I had to give in and let her do it her way. The marriage was more important. Her reasoning was that everyone cheats and that the amounts of taxes are unjustly high, that all politicians are corrupt, etc. My previous employers in Poland didn’t pay proper tax.
Tithing was the second battle. She was more upset by that idea. Walked around the city crying about the prospect of it, she claimed. I gave in on that one, too. I got around it by letting people of my church attend free. When I did that it seemed like things stopped breaking. But I wanted to tithe, thinking it would make things even better.
When I took the money onto my own, I began to give what I wanted to the thing I supported, church. My church was not a rich church and out of what little they had, they gave some to ministries in poorer countries. God’s kingdom costs money to run. I helped fund it.
I also spent on myself for once. A coffee roaster, the steel guitar, books, CDs, subscriptions to a newspaper, a beer keg, etc. Four things were long on my prayer list: cheddar cheese (hard to find and expensive in Poland—they have about a million types of cheese there, but they are all white and mild and similar—I don’t know why they give them different names.), maple syrup (maple syrup is actually cheaper in Poland), good coffee and beer. If I could get those and a newspaper, I was happy.
My business took a nose dive. You find me in Arizona, where those things are easy to get. A friend who helped encouraged me in writing asked me whether I gave up on the idea of tithing. I guess the jury is still out on that idea. But I can tell you I don’t feel as much faith in the idea as I once did (without saying whether I actually did tithe.)
Tomorrow I go to Poland and I guess I haven’t said yet that I have mixed feelings about it. I look forward to seeing r in the biggest way, of course—in fact I’m afraid I may want to stay. The other problem is I will be staying in my old apartment. I think you can imagine why that won’t be easy.
Happy reading. I’ll post from there if I can.

I did. You just read it.