Debt Free Living

After years of encouragement by Cora, I finally agreed to adopt a budget and live debt free. I took the verse from God’s Word that says neither a lender or borrower be and applied it literally to our life. The lender part was easy, because we were broke anyway. The borrower part was an invitation for trouble. We didn’t have any money to fall back on and I was unemployed. Isn’t it humorous that God would take one of the most difficult financial times in our married life and encourage us to apply His Word to our life.

Craig’s list is an amazing phenomenon. We began listing just about everything we owned on the listing service and sold most of it. God provided plenty of people to buy at fair prices. We were loaned a house to live in rent free. A dentist pulled my cracked tooth for free and referred me to another that repaired a broken tooth. Friends paid to get my truck out of the shop. My father-in-law bought a collector’s edition rifle I had given Cora, so we could make the payment on my truck.

Cora and I both got perfect jobs and even get to work together at our church. Jeff and April have taken over payments on their investment house, graciously relieving us of the burden. God continues to provide in wonderful and unexpected ways. Pray His abundance on Jeff and April’s investment.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” Matt 5:3

Prayer on Calloused Knees

My dad knew how to pray. His prayer life led to his knees building callouses. That was how often and long he committed his life to prayer. When the Berlin wall fell, he took me aside and shared that he had been specifically praying for a couple big events over the course of a few years. God had put these prayers on his heart. One event was for the Berlin wall to fall. He began praying years before anyone had any reason to believe the Berlin wall would ever come down. It was just a seemingly crazy prayer that God put on his heart. Dad was encouraged and impressed when Reagan announced that the Berlin wall was being torn down.

I was later told by my mother that a couple friend of theirs were desiring to have a baby. They were airline pilots. Dad prayed for them over a period of time. Ultimately, the wife gave birth to a beautiful baby and they give God and dad’s prayers credit for their miracle baby. This couple later graciously assisted a niece to become employed as an airline flight attendant. My mother was blessed with their attentiveness towards the niece.

My dad told of the time he was diagnosed with leukemia and was scheduled to go to the hospital to begin treatment. He checked in and began the battery of tests prior to treatment starting. Much to the doctors’ amazement there was no sign of leukemia. The Word refers to God as the great physician. There was no doubt who healed my dad. It’s likely he was not surprised by the lack of disease. God’s healing likely just met his expectations.

There was another time, I was struggling in a business venture. My mother and dad were praying for me and my success quite diligently and fervently. One of my adversaries died from natural causes. My dad quoted the Word as saying it wasn’t wise to go before an angry God. It makes me wonder about what ‘natural causes’ implies……

When has prayer made an impact on the outcome of your life?

“Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. 1 Thess 5:17,18

Be Prepared For Struggle

Cora and I have a passion for marriage. We know it is God’s will and purpose for all marriages to be fruitful and the partners enjoy an abundant life. It is heart breaking to see the results of failed marriages. There was a time in our ministry we hosted small groups of couples in our home to share what God was doing in our marriage. We wanted others to know they too could struggle and also enjoy a fruitful relationship with their spouse.

During the start-up of a new couples group, we warned everyone to get ready for a struggle. Satan would not like us to work toward a closer walk with God and subsequent closer marriage relationship. We knew this to be the case from warnings provided in the Word and our own experiences in life. To everyone’s surprise, I lost a great job the very next week. Everyone was blown away by our experience. Cora and I knew struggles come with stepping out for God and expected distractions to come. No big deal. Just life.

When have you stepped up to the plate, prepared to deliver a home run, only to have circumstances blind side you?

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.” Matt 5:10