Finances

The Rich Fool

/ Jodie / Leave a comment

Luke 12:13-21

13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

I’ve heard many a story about families being divided over a relative’s possessions after (sometimes even before) they’ve died. Even when the deceased has given specific instructions in their will, the remaining descendants can feel entitled and their greed can drive them into a bitter court battle over who should get what. The ridiculous thing is, those who inherit will one-day die as well, then who will get everything they fought so hard for?

Jesus told several parables about wealth:

The Rich Fool

The Great Feast

The Shrew Manager

Why was it so important for Him to re-emphasize these life lessons over and over again?

1 Timothy 6:10

10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Jesus knew that great wealth could be used by the enemy to quickly turn our hearts from grateful to greedy. He also knew that at the bottom of every root of greed is a spirit of PRIDE. Pride is what keeps us from having a right relationship with Him- and a right relationship towards money. As we strive to make more cash, buy more stuff and inherit more family heirlooms we are trying to ensure that WE are always provided for…therefore, WE don’t need to depend on God. As WE continue to produce fine crops and tear down our barns to build bigger ones (aka: houses, garages, attics, sheds, storage units…) WE are storing up earthly treasures at the expense of bankrupting our relationship with the One who provides everything for us.

I have lived at various levels of greed all my life. When I was a child I thought dollar bills grew on trees and credit cards equaled FREE money. I would stomp my feet (sometimes literally) when told “no” after asking my parents to buy me something. As a teenager, when moving from CA to NC I was ticked that my mom didn’t choose the biggest house in the ritziest neighborhood. I resented that I had to earn scholarships for college and take a work-study job to have money to spend. When I got married and was slapped with the real world; taxes, insurance, bills….I just opened up another credit card so I could get whatever my little greedy heart desired.

That is, until God began uprooting my greed…..

He was merciful, and did it over a period of years. First it was tithing, then it was getting out of debt, and then it was giving to others. By the time my husband lost his job- and our sole means of income went with it- I had begun to understand that true riches aren’t based in my possessions, but in the most important relationship I will ever encounter on this earth- or for eternity.

Father,

Thank you for the revelation that YOU are my provider. Not only do you supply me with everything I need to be sustained every day- you pour out your Spirit on me, giving life to my spirit and my soul. Thank you, Lord for continuing to uproot the lies in my life and helping me to seek an eternal inheritance instead of an earthly one. You alone deserve all the glory and praise for filling my life with riches far greater than I could ever strive for.

Amen

Dream Killer

/ Jodie / 4 Comments

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
 but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

While staying in hotels when traveling for business last year, Doug began noticing items, which he thought would be a great asset to our home. One in particular was the outdoor sofa and chairs that awaited guests after a long days work or travel. Frequently, he would plop down on one, kick up his feet and face time me at the end of the day, showing me the courtyard and all the amenities that created an oasis in the middle of the dormitory of rooms. Around the same time, Doug began recalling one of his landscape dreams; adding a patio off our existing deck in order to make our backyard more comfortable for our family and friends. As he day dreamed….talking about his vision, I listened & occasionally give my 2 cents worth (but in the back of my mind, I thought it probably would never happen…..).

When Doug’s birthday rolled around, God proved me wrong by providing brick pavers at half price through a friend who wanted to get rid of their patio! Another friend helped me and our girls load those heavy suckers onto his trailer and hide them until the day of the surprise. After Doug’s shock and awe we began the planning phase of the dream, but the first, second….fifth drafts didn’t quite work for the topography of our yard. Finally, though, with some new vision and creativity, we completed the project…5 months later than expected. Then came phase 2; furniture. Doug day dreamed about a sofa and chairs… and I listened, giving my 3 cents worth this time (but again, in the back of my mind, I thought it probably would never happen…..) so I suggested that since we had 6 people in our family, and only table seating for 4 we should use our existing chairs and build a table to accommodate 8. Plus, I cautioned him…we had already gone over budget on building his patio- so we shouldn’t spend any more money than was absolutely necessary. He agreed- and a month later the project was finally done (at least, I thought it was…).

About a month ago I noticed Doug bringing our broken Adirondack chairs from the front to the back yard to sit in the evenings. Why? When we had seating for 8 around the patio table and seating for 4 more on the deck?!? “Well,” he said, “they just aren’t comfortable.” I agreed- but didn’t think much more about it. Until last weekend……

We were chatting during lunch (at our kitchen table that seats 10- can you tell that I have a thing for tables?!?) when my mind began racing through all the times I would see Doug melt into the cushy furniture at the hotels he stayed in, looking contented and relaxed, or how he would gush over the outdoor furniture section every time we walked into home improvement stores. Then it hit me like a ton of brick pavers: I had killed his dream!!!

Uggg.

Immediately, I looked across the table at my husband and said something that is completely out of character for me: “let’s go to Lowes!”

“Huh?!?” he muttered.

“I killed your dream- I’m so sorry.” I was just trying to be practical…but I totally ignored what you wanted. I’m soooo sorry. Let’s go to Lowe’s and look at their outdoor sofa and chairs!”

If you could have seen my husbands face you would have looked upon a 4 year old little boy on Christmas morning who got that Red Ryder Bb gun he’d hoped for.

Unfortunately, when we got to Lowe’s, the options were scarce, since it was the end of the summer season. Sadly, I watched as Doug’s exuberance turned to disappointment. “Well,” he said “we’ll just have to keep looking…..” But for some reason, I felt compelled to go down the aisles one more time. Wouldn’t ya know it…there, hidden right in front of me was a box I hadn’t seen before. When Doug flagged an employee down to check the inventory we discovered they had one full set left; a love seat, coffee table, and 2 chairs- with cushions and throw pillows INCLUDED! It was also not a coincidence that it was less expensive than the floor models, we liked the design more than the ones on display, AND it fit our current backyard project budget!

After Doug finished assembling the furniture we placed them on the back deck and plopped down. For the next few hours we sat contented and relaxed as we talked about the lesson we’d learned: we had not honestly communicated all of our expectations to each other. After our “aha” moments & apologies, I realized that even though I had totally screwed up and killed Doug’s dream, God still knew it-  and in His perfect timing, He supplied the space, the money & the exact furniture to fulfill it…..and He included table seating for 8 too!

Our God is so good.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God…

“(Dream killers) look you in the eye and offer a dozen reasons why your dreams won’t work. In fact, the more they talk, the more you begin to hear your own voice echo their thoughts.

Truth is, wherever you find dreamers, you find dream killers. The church is filled with them. They grew up with you, live in your house, and sometimes they….are you. Maybe you’re a victim of a dream killer and regret having listened to them.

At the same time, I realize the life-giving power of dream fanners. They refresh you, and you feel drawn to them like moths to a flame.”

 

Dream Big, but BEWARE of DREAM KILLERS

-Todd Wilson

 

Holes

/ Jodie / Leave a comment

Matthew 25:14-30

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[a] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![b]’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

During the first decade of our marriage, we dug holes and hid our Masters money. Although Doug and I had been taught about tithing and good stewardship from our parents, we didn’t heed their wisdom. Like millions of Americans, we lived paycheck to paycheck and paid only the minimum balance on our credit cards, car payments & mortgage. We had no budget and no boundaries. If we wanted it, we bought it. Every year, when the tax return came in, we’d pay down our debt- then reward ourselves by buying something else! We lived in bondage to our lenders for far to long…

Proverbs 22:7

Just as the rich rule the poor,
so the borrower is servant to the lender.

It wasn’t until Doug felt convicted to give to the church that the Lord began to change our hearts about money (notice, I said “give”- we didn’t believe we could actually afford to tithe, so we dropped $50 or $100 bucks in the plate each month for a few years until we gradually increased to 10% of our net income). Shortly after we began tithing regularly, God convicted us again to give Him 10% of our gross income. After fighting it for a while, we finally realized that the IRS and the State of North Carolina was just another bill we owed, after God received what was due Him. The next thing the Holy Spirit convicted us about (are you seeing a trend here?!?) was our poor stewardship of the remaining 90%. So, we created a plan to retrieve the money out of the holes we’d dug and pay back those lenders! Once Doug set his mind to do this, applying it was not too difficult for him. I, on the other hand really had to wrestle between needs & wants. Countless times I can remember going shopping and filling my cart with items that weren’t necessities…and on the way to check out, I would get a pang in my gutt, stop abruptly, turn around, and return all of the items back to their shelves. This went on for years- but eventually, the demons of greed & debt got frustrated and left!

When I was wiling to submit to God’s purposes for our finances and Doug’s plan for tithing, saving, investing and spending I no longer saw my Master as being harsh. Instead, I began to see His true heart towards me and how He wanted to throw open the windows of heaven and bless me and our family! 7 years later, we now have only 1 hole remaining; our mortgage, and a plan is in place to pay that lender back as soon as possible.

By following His guidelines about money we have miraculously been able to tithe, save, invest and give generously to others. Without being workaholics or striving to constantly make more money, HE has provided our every need and blessed us (spiritually, emotionally & financially) abundantly with many of our wants.

As He continues to entrust His money to us, I pray that we will continue to use it wisely and continue to hear Him say:

‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

You Must Not Covet

/ Jodie / Leave a comment

Romans 7:7-25

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”[a] 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[b] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[c] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

To covet means to wish for something earnestly, to desire inordinately (with no reasonable limits, excessive). To want is not a bad thing, but when it creates a desperate desire in us to do whatever it takes to get what we want, then we cross the line into sin.

I’ve been known to jokingly say “I will not covet, I will not covet…” when visiting other peoples homes who have things on my dream list: a farm, a 5 bedroom house with a basement, huge kitchen, open family room, office, ministry room, screened in porch, a river/bold creek that runs through the yard, etc. etc. etc. In essence, I am trying to convince myself to not cross that line! From past experience, I know that when I see something I want (these are all wants, mind you, not needs) my mind will begin going down that road of “why can’t I have this?” If ignored, a want can quickly turn into desire, then coveting. Left unchecked, coveting will breed an ungrateful heart towards God because I am convinced (by the enemy) that He is failing to give me what I think I need.

Coveting, however is not just exclusive to material things. It can also greatly affect our relationships. Usually, it begins with a subtle thought:

“I wish my husband did all the chores around the house like her husband does.”

“I wish our kids behaved like the Duggars- they’re perfect!”

“I wish our family could be involved in every homeschool co-op and field trip like that family (meaning= I wish we had more $ so we could do everything I want)”

“I wish our church had more music during the worship service, or kids activities, outreaches, healing services, bible studies— fill in the blank, like so and so’s church.”

“I wish our ministry made as much money as that persons so we could do it full time.”

“WAAAA, WAAAA, WAAAAAA!”

1 Timothy 6:6-8

6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

Having lived through a season of unemployment with a family of 6 to sustain, I now understand the truth of this verse. All of the wants on my dream list paled in comparison to our needs for that year. Amazingly, God not only provided those (food and clothing)- He also supplied our wants for a home, electricity, water, sewer, gas, homeschool books, phones AND Netflix! Still, Gods miraculous provision during our time in the wilderness unfortunately didn’t make me immune to coveting. Hence, the reason why He highlighted these verses to me this morning. After a night of grumbling and complaining about some of the above mentioned, His word lovingly convicted me of my sin, re-focused my heart towards Him, and brought me back over to His side of the line where I belong.

Luke 12:24

24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!

Thank you, Father for loving me and valuing me above all of your creation.

Thank you for giving me a husband who is a man after your own heart.

Thank you for giving me 4 precious children who desire to know you.

Thank you for equipping me to train and teach our children at home- and giving us the opportunity to go on several field trips each year.

Thank you for giving us a home, cars, furniture, electronics, kitchen gadgets…

Thank you for giving us a church family who loves, encourages and rebukes us, when needed.

Thank you for allowing us to share our life story with other married couples- and witness your amazing love radically transform the broken lives of your children.

You are a good God.

You are Jehovah- Jireh.

You are all that I need.

Bend & Sway

/ Jodie / Leave a comment

(originally posted on The Bullard Pack blog on 2/25/11)

As I sat drinking my cup of coffee this morning, peering out the living room window I saw the effects of the winds approaching from the east. A storm was coming. The mighty oaks and the spindly pines began to bend and say, bend and sway from the pressure of the winds.
Immediately, my mind began to wander to the storm of life that our family has been in the midst of the last 5 months. Although this weather disturbance hasn’t been extremely severe, it has been a storm nonetheless. We all experience storms in our life- Jesus warns us of this in John 16:33, “in this world, you will have trouble…..” but He also makes us a promise: “but take heart, because I have overcome the world!”
A few minutes later, I picked up my bible to begin my daily reading plan. When I turned to the assigned chapter, I chuckled. God is so into the details of all our lives- which is utterly amazing to me. My groggy thoughts about an impending storm were not coincidental as my eyes gazed upon the theme of Psalm 29, “God reveals his great power in nature. We can trust God to give us both the peace and the strength to weather the storms of life.”
In October, 2010, my husband called me in the middle of the day to break the news…..the conversation went something like this: “Hey baby…..” “Hey honey…..you’ve been laid off, haven’t you?” “Yep- just a few minutes ago.” “Well, ok….we felt that God was preparing us for this…..and He’ll see us through. Still- I know this is going to be difficult for you….. I’m sorry.” Two weeks later, my husband was officially unemployed. Thankfully, his company did give us a severance package and benefits for 6 months.
The transition from full-time working outside the house husband/father to an at-home husband/father/searching for a job/ principal of our home school was a difficult one, at first. As all 6 of us struggled to fall into our new daily routine, there were moments of friction! Fortunately, at this season of our marriage, Doug and I have learned how to honestly communicate with one another about our expectations and how we feel about any given situation. We quickly realized that our expectations of each other weren’t matching up! So, we had to come up w/ a new game plan. Now our team is running towards the goal line-together, instead of blocking each other on every yard!
During this same time, Doug came to me with the topic for this year’s Marriage Conference. Stunned, I sat listening to him pour out what he felt God had laid on his heart months before. In mid sentence, I interrupted him and said that I needed to confess that when he began talking, a wave of pride and jealousy began emerging in my spirit towards him. I was offended that he had not “chosen” the topic that I had been working on! A moment later, though, God whispered….”Jodie…THIS is what I want to share w/ my people….…..” How could I argue with that? I chose to submit to Doug’s vision for the teaching portion of the conference, and I now whole-heartedly believe that the topic IS what God wants to share with His people that weekend.
In November, we felt it was the right time to turn our calling into a non-profit ministry. We’ve been serving other married couples for nearly 10 years, but in the last year or so, we had really felt that God was showing us that eventually, He would take us into full time ministry in that area. And so, began the pain staking process of paperwork and approval from the state and an EXCESSIVE amount of paperwork to obtain tax-exempt status from the federal government. We are so very grateful that dear friends have and continue to help us chart this unknown course in order to obtain all the necessary documents, etc.
 We made it through the holidays, enjoying Doug being home to share in all the festivities of the season. We did, however experience some Griswold family moments, but I won’t go into detail about that here!!!!
Doug had 1 call back about a job posting, which he interviewed for. However, he didn’t get the position.
In January we received 2 unexpected gifts…a family trip to Myrtle Beach, SC and a cash donation to Doug and me to continue to pursue our calling. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of others and felt completely undeserving. Yet, we also were aware that this was God’s way of showing us in a tangible way that He was our provider and that His calling was NOT a fluke- regardless of how the enemy was beginning to question us in that regard.
Later that month, Doug followed the advice of two of our mentors and signed both of us up to complete thorough sessions with Restoring the Foundations. http://rtfi.org/ To say I was reluctant is an understatement. I voiced my concerns regarding the HUGE cost to our wallets multiple times- but eventually relented and submitted to Doug’s leadership decision (do you see a recurring wrong attitude here??? PTL that He is continuing to work on me in this area!). His ministry session was first. I was completely unaware how greatly his unwillingness to share his experience would affect me. Upon his return, all hell broke loose in my spirit- literally, and my mouth attacked him with such harshness that I am embarrassed to give the details of it. At the end of my rant, through sobbing tears my mind snapped and I shouted “ I don’t even know why I am so upset and screaming at you like this…I feel like I’m having an out of body experience.” Exactly. The enemy was so threatened by the healing that took place in Doug’s life and he was scared at the prospect that the same would come to me, that the only way he could destroy us was to bring division between Doug and I. After a lot of tears and crying out to God for forgiveness,  I apologized to Doug and told him that although it was difficult for me to understand, I knew that his not sharing what he had experienced was sacrificial for me to be able to go through my ministry experience with no pre-conceived ideas or barriers. His wisdom and self-control was, in the end a HUGE blessing to me. To say our lives have been forever changed just doesn’t seem adequate to describe the healing, forgiveness, comfort and encouragement that we received individually, and as a couple. We are so grateful that God led us, through others, to restore the foundations of our lives. We are in the process of completing more RTF modules and we hope to one day be able to minister, through RTF to other married couples.
It is now February, and Doug has “0” job leads. Daily, we continue to bend and sway between total faith in God’s plan for our future and fear that we may run out of that little green paper in our bank accounts, which could force us to lose our home or our possessions. Still, as we stand facing the wind, we are grateful that our roots are continuing to go deeper into the soil of Truth, trusting in the One who designed us to bend and sway amidst this storm.
Update:
We are STILL unemployed & STILL have much to be grateful for: A God that loves us, a fabulous marriage, 4 little blessings (our children!),  a thriving home-school, a ministry that we are passionate about,  our home, food on the table, and supportive (spiritually, financially & emotionally) family, friends & church family.
– Jodie