That was the story of today. Like someone else a lot more famous than me, I had to get my tax return done today (I love reading blogs from well known Brits, it makes the internet feel more like home when you find people who have things in common with you not just in intellectual interest but in day-to-day chores). Tax returns and payments are due on 31st of January for last tax year (ending Apr 04) over here, and I was glad to find I wasn't the only one doing it last minute. As I actually earnt something in my second year of self employment, and I hadn't paid any tax for it til today, I had a hefty chunk taken out of my bank balance.

I also used the occasion to get my giving to church sorted out (I had been woefully negligent in this area, partly because being self-employed makes it difficult to work out how much you are actually earning, especially for someone as allergic to finances as me, but mainly 'cause I'm just a shockingly negligent kind of person). That took another hefty whack out. But the lightened mind and conscience more than compensated for the lightened bank balance, and, out of God's abundant provision for me, my balance is still very healthy! So the initial poem isn't true yet (but it was too good an opportunity to miss).