It is great to have people in the church wanting to give their tithes. We have a new family that we picked up after VBS. They have a huge family & the dad has cancer. Needless to say, they don't have much money. Anyway, mom wanted to pay her tithes. So, she decided to tithe one of her new precious gifts. She gave dh & I a new duck. Yes, duck. The quack, quack kind that poops & makes a mess. How do you say no to a person tithing?
I have a rule at our house. No new mouths & bodies to feed & take care of. So, how long do you think that I am obligated to keep a duck?
Anyone ever go through this? I think it is so sweet & wonderful that she is giving to God. She is being obedient. I guess duck poop is better than the other poop I get from the church c.a.'s....
But what do you do w/ a duck? Right now it is in my bathroom in a big plastic storage box. I've got a huge bag of chicken feed by my front door. Rumor has it that her duck is laying more eggs. We'll probably end up w/ another duck too!! HELP!! "I'm QUACKING UP!" Sorry, couldn't resist...
LOL!!!! I once had a kid in my kid's club who was given a rooster as a gift! She was blind in one eye, so a well-meaning church member gave her a rooster who was blind in one eye as a "special friend" for her...
Too bad you don't live in Minnesota - My mother-in-law lives on a lake, and is always taking in stray animals...she has two geese, a whole bunch of rabbits, two dogs, and a cat - and she feeds all the birds and deer who live within a 20-mile radius of her house, too! Could you find someone in your area like that and have them keep "custody" of your duck? That way, you would still acknowledge the gift and not offend anyone, it would be technically "yours," but be cared for by someone who actually lives for that kind of thing?
....And then there is always... dinner! Know a butcher?
Kidding- but wow- are you even wuthorized to keep livestock in a residential area where you live? We have a lake near our house and the geese that live there like to "visit" at times and lay their eggs (duds) in our yard and the other yards in our our subdivision- but usually a broom and hollaring will send them on their way- unless of course the neighborhood kids are riding bikes or running- then they want to chase them- it's actually kind of funny when this happens. Anyway- they usually only come around in the fall- they seem kind of confused when it starts to get cold.
So my advice? I have no clue how I'd handle someone tithing a duck. In the days of ol' people did this and the pastor's familiy would eat the "gifts"- or use the cow for milk, or hens for eggs- but I don't about now. I DO know I would have loved to see you and your dh's face when the duck was brought in.
Well dh built a pen for the duck last night. I had a women's meeting so I didn't go w/ him to Lowe's. I should have because he spent $100 for this duck pen. Yikes! This duck definitely is not in our budget. Dh wants to get a swimming pool & put it in the ground for the duck -- Doodles is his name. Now I just hope it survives. The duck is in the wooded part of our yard. You can barely see the nearest house from our property, so we should be ok. I just hope this family doesn't get any other animals!!