Life Is More Fulfilling!
God has always provided for our family since we decided to believe and implement the principle of abundantly sharing and the keys to financial liberty that The Way Ministry teaches from God’s Word. This last year, our family has had the opportunity to believe God in a bigger way in the financial realm than ever before.
It was becoming more and more evident that our family needed a parent to be home more often. Two parents working full time was adding extra pressure, to say the least. Our special-needs son and other two children were beginning to have needs that we were not able to meet. We could see that it was best for our children for me (Mom) to quit working and stay home, but financially it was going to cut our income in half and seemed impossible at first! We kept discussing and praying. The answer became quite evident that it would be the best spiritually, so we all got like-minded and decided to claim God’s promises of abundance and stay focused on Psalms 37:3-5:
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
When the timing became evidently right, I quit my job!
Since then, more avenues of help for our special-needs son have opened up, and he has improved tremendously. ALL of our children have improved and flourished in their spiritual growth, academics, and extracurricular activities that they were not able to do before. There is so much less pressure on the family in general, making for a more peaceful home. We are now able to focus more on our heart’s desire of giving by way of being assistant fellowship coordinators.
Every time money got tight, we continued to claim God’s promises of abundance and we continued to practice the principle of tithing and abundant sharing. And guess what. The solution was always there just in time. God is never late! Incoming bills were drastically reduced for no “apparent” reason, and money came unexpectedly from refunds and discounts from the most incredible sources, way beyond what our physical senses could imagine. Dad got more side jobs, which pay more but require less work. I now get paid money to provide services for our special-needs son that would have been paid to someone else to care for him. Dad got a huge raise “just because.” We have continued to live debt-free! Not only that—we were able to save money to go on vacation to the Power of Prayer Camp at Camp Gunnison, buy a better vehicle for Dad, AND a vehicle for one of the boys. Now, a year later, we are making just a little less than the amount of income we made before; but I am still at home and the family is still enjoying that benefit with more abundance and life is more fulfilling. God is AWESOME!
I Decided to Trust God and Tithe
I had just gone through a rough divorce and had moved into a home I really couldn’t afford. I kept my heat at sixty degrees and kept the lights off as much as possible to save money. I had a full-time job, plus I worked side jobs to try to pay the bills. I was also paying child support and really struggling. I would get my son on weekends, and sometimes we would go to the grocery store and eat sample food just so I could feed him. I was going to a local church, and I would pray to God for a way out and to meet a new lady friend to keep me company.
In December 1998, I was introduced to my now wonderful wife by a guy I knew at work. He and his wife were friends with her, and they were in The Way Ministry. We met up that year at my company’s Christmas party. After the party, we met at his house, and I was witnessed to. Soon after, I attended my first fellowship.
I learned about tithing and took the Foundational Class. I didn’t have enough money to pay my bills, much less give 10 percent to God. With encouragement from fellow believers and the truths from Malachi 3:10, I decided to trust God and tithe. Not long after I started to tithe, I was not only enjoying my now wife’s company, but I sold my house in an upside-down market that no one walking by their five senses thought I would make any money in. I made enough money to not only pay off my mortgage but also my Jeep. I moved into an apartment close to work, which saved me gas money, and it only cost about half of my previous mortgage payment. I continued going to fellowship and taking all the classes, and I attended the Advanced Class in 2000. After all that, I was out of debt, and I married my wonderful wife in 2002. My wife is my best friend, and we continue to go to fellowship together. We have three boys; the youngest is in high school and doing quite well.
I thank the ministry for teaching me how to believe and apply God’s matchless Word in every situation in life.