June 15, 2020

Some may think what I am about to share is too personal, but I feel it’s important to show God at work, and I pray it encourages others to live in total dependence on God. It’s an amazing adventure!

The summer of 1997, my husband went to Hungary to help with an ESL camp. On returning, he told his employer that he thought he would take more trips like this and was told that was not advisable. The problem with this thought was that it was my husband’s vacation time to use as he wished, not anyone else’s direction. Very soon he was told that he would no longer be a subcontractor but instead go back to an hourly wage which would be almost half of what he was making then. He told me that we needed to step out in faith and open our own company.

We never knew how hard this would be but were willing to go forward. My husband prepared business cards. Because he was already a subcontractor, he had a van and equipment. We attended a small business meeting which I think was somewhat helpful. I remember sitting in our living room for many nights handwriting hundreds of envelopes to send to businesses with a letter and business card and I think I prayed over every envelope as I wrote them out. Within a few weeks, we had started our business.

Thankfully, we were pretty frugal. When we got married, our wedding cost us less than $500 that included one night at the Red Fox Inn. We shared one car and attended a home buying seminar and thankfully met a great realtor who suggested it was in our best interest never to go for a home in which the bank approves you for the full amount but instead to look for something in a much lower price range, that way we could pay extra on principal every month, cutting out years of payments in the long run. I love that our first home in 1992 cost us only $45,000. To this day, we are so thankful for this advice. We didn’t have credit cards and lived on a “cash only” mindset. Thankfully, we have stuck to that pretty well.

We had two little ones, age three and one, and thankfully they were happy with the simple things in life. I remember many nights we had noodles and butter or meat and rice. It was cheap and easy, and no one complained. I remember a friend opening up my refrigerator once, and she said, “where’s all your food?!” That was embarrassing but sometimes we could only shop daily, sometimes weekly, and eventually we got to the point of being able to shop monthly.

My husband told me if we could get to the five year mark of owning a business, we could make it. It takes a lot of perseverance and working together to make it through the hard things. It was the first of many hard things to come in life but it’s those things that make you stronger.

For whatever reason, I had in my mind to give to God first. I can’t say we were taught about tithing because I don’t remember but I’m guessing we probably heard that in a sermon or read about it in the Bible, but I just felt deep in my heart that before any bills were paid, we must give to God first. I do remember once I thought, “well, we don’t have much, I might as well give it all.” There were times I did have a stinky attitude about giving back then and really shouldn’t have given unless I could give with a joyful spirit.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:7

I remember the mortgage company calling us regarding a soon to be foreclosure. I remember saying we would pay for our mortgage as soon as we could but didn’t have the money at the time which is of no concern to them obviously because they are just trying to get paid and would take our home if they needed to. We started looking for options for a new home so we could sell ours soon without going into foreclosure.

My husband went to look at a couple homes in a really nice nearby trailer park. He found one that he thought would be perfect for us and the price was right. We continued to pray over this as I didn’t want to leave the home that I wanted to raise our children in.

We asked God to show us to make it clear if He wanted us to stay put or not but we didn’t have much time where the mortgage was concerned. The morning we went to look at a possible new home, the person showing us could not get the door open. It was getting stuck because the most recent weather had made the ground freeze and frost heave had lifted the deck up higher than the bottom of the door!

The gal asked if we wanted to see another. My husband and I looked at each other and said, “no thanks”, and we went home believing God kept that door from opening, that we were going to stay in our home, and trust He would bring the work in needed to pay for our mortgage. And He did! We stayed in that home for 20 years raising four children!

When you are starting out with a new business, you work 24/7 and no paid vacations let alone any vacations at all. You learn to go with the flow pretty quickly and take the down time with family at the opportunities given. It taught our oldest two specifically that you don’t need to leave to go on vacation but you can be in your own backyard and have a ton of fun. One of the best and many memories I am sure my son and husband made together was building a fort in the backyard.

And, one thing we taught our children was to give generously. Not always can someone give financially, but it’s important to give of your time. Before being married, I started working at an assisted and independent living center, and I just fell in love with the people there.

A few years later, I found an assisted living place in town and took my oldest two there on a weekly basis for quite some time. We asked to visit those who had no family or friends there on a regular basis. I remember two specific ladies that we spent time talking with and singing to! I know that my kiddos loved to visit, and I prayed they would continue to have a love for the elderly from that experience.

Fast forward to today and we will be at 23 years of having our business, and God has really blessed us! We decided that it was in our best interest last year to start looking for a shop to house everything and came upon a condo business warehouse that was the perfect location, size, and price. We hired another employee, purchased another van, and closed on the shop in April of this year, right after the coronavirus scare happened and the world seemed to lose its’ mind.

It affected so many lives unneccesarily as well as our business but thankfully the payroll forgiveness loans came out we were able to use for the employees but we could not use it for ourselves because we are the employer and couldn’t use anything for the new shop or utilities because we bought it this year and the rule was that in order to use it for that, we would’ve had to buy it in 2019 or before.

My husband, who has also written books and teaches classes all over the country, was told that all trainings he was going to be teaching at were canceled so therefore it’s hard to sell his books when he’s not teaching. Then the company he does Tech Support for was only able to pay him half of what he would normally get but he said he was thankful they didn’t cut it fully.

When our mortgage told us we could go into forbearance, we chose to do that for three months, and boy did it bring up all the memories of the time when we first started our business. We could do this but needed to pay all that at the end of the three months. When I talked with the gal on the phone, she talked with me about different options including foreclosure which I knew we would not do. We also got reminders by mail and email about what we chose to do and what happens if we don’t pay everything by the end of the agreement. We were also able to put our car on hold for a couple months.

On top of that, I got sick, which is not accounted into expecting extra bills more than the average doctor bill here and there. I actually found out today while sitting in the hospital that we have met our out of pocket maximum! Yay! Even though we’ve had these extra bills and knowing we will continue to for awhile, it’s nice to know that now we don’t have to pay anymore this year! That’s something to be thankful for!

I tell you all this for one reason: GOD PROVIDES!

In March, when we decided to put the mortgage and car on hold, we had both been praying about what to do with our tithe, and when we came together to talk about it, the discussion was maybe a minute as we both had agreed that we will continue to tithe what we had already said in our hearts that we would for this year, and it would be a great opportunity to trust God.

And, again, I don’t pay bills until we have tithed first. We personally feel this way because it reminds us that everything we have comes from God. For us, it’s out of respect and love for Him.

People can tend to get hung up on an amount. The Hebrew word for tithe is a “tenth part of” so if we are mathematical that would be 1/10 = 10%. Many people have opinions on before or after taxes. Dave Ramsey says, “just give to be a giver. It’s about changing your spirit anyway.”

Some people say, “give till it hurts”. Well, I am telling you that most Americans would not live by that standard, and I cannot say it’s the right standard to live by. I think some are so caught up in the 10% mindset so they won’t give a penny more. That could actually be stingy for many Americans to only give 10% but it also could be sacrificial for others.

I also think it’s important not to give just to check it off your list because you think you have to as that is also a wrong attitude of the heart and honestly won’t be accepted by God. I am sure whomever you are giving to won’t know or even care about your attitude so much but God knows.

Then, you look at the beautiful story in the Bible about the widow’s offering. I think of this story often. Everyone gave out of their abundance which didn’t probably even matter to them as it wasn’t a true sacrifice, and yet she gave two coins which was all she had to live on. She made the biggest sacrifice of all. (Luke 21:1-4)

Another favorite story from the Bible is when a woman poured out her alabaster jar of perfume onto Jesus, and everyone around thought she was crazy because it was considered a year’s worth of wages, but she was showing how much she loved her Savior! I want to be that crazy!
(Luke 7:36-50)

I think there are times when a person may only be able to give 1% and then there are times a person may be able to give 99%. These are extremes but that could be what the difference is. I also think this is why is it so important to stay out of debt and pray about how God would have to use your time and resources. God knows your heart. No one else. Everything is about a heart attitude when it comes to serving Christ, I think.

I know most would think we are crazy to continue to tithe while our day to day income is so unknown, but I am telling you: to trust God on a day to day basis to provide is an amazing feeling. We did this when we started out with our business, and to do it again, having so much more to take care of with employees, vans, equipment, shop, etc. is so much more responsibility. It could be overwhelming, but we are choosing to see it as an opportunity to trust God.

April seemed to go pretty well. Then May came and one of the vans needed work done and it literally cost the exact amount we had said in our hearts we would give. For real! For a moment, I was thinking we were crazy but then could only laugh about it because it’s this testing that will grow us.

June came and another van had problems, having to spend a day in the shop. Not only that but the payroll forgiveness loan is over, and we pray we can keep the employees employed. Then, this morning, we realize not only do we need to replace two tires on our car but four. It’s quite comical!

I am thankful because over the years, my husband has developed some great working relationships that he will do work for trade. It has been wonderful in the past and blesses both parties. I think more people need to do that.

I tell you all this for one reason: GOD PROVIDES!

I have chosen not to look at our bank account the past month or so to avoid seeing the “damage” as I knew I had to pay the mortgage and car up-to-date. I went through my book when I wasn’t tired, and I had to go through it again, more than once! I told my husband something must be wrong! He has heard this from me before, and it has always been when I’ve made an error, sometimes a huge error, to bring us once in awhile in the negative. I’ve done that too many times to count. For real! I am in charge of the books! Hahaha! He just looked at me patiently saying, “okay”, waiting for me to continue.

I told him that I went back to the beginning of the year and tried to figure out how we are coming out on top, and I mean ON TOP. I was able to go through, for example where the savings on gas, water, and other items throughout the past six months were. I said, “it’s GOD!” God helped us save, without me realizing it, so much so that we are ahead more than we’ve ever been! THAT is how my God works!

You CANNOT OUTGIVE GOD! Just try! I promise you He will bless you over and over and over again!

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
2 Corinthians 9:6