Generously Abundant

Isaiah 48:17, “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.”

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

2 Corinthians 9:10-11, “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

Those three scriptures hang on my refrigerator. They are the scriptures that we proclaim over our home and over our business. We do not live in fear of tomorrow because we live by faith that God has plans for us, he has plans for our future. It’s funny to think of how far we have come since we have decided to proclaim them for ourselves. It’s not often that I dive into details of my life before I was reacquainted with my God but this is one of those times.

A few years ago, my husband and I filed bankruptcy. Neither one of us are proud of that fact and looking back now what seemed so overwhelming really wasn’t as much as we thought it was. It was a series of horrible decisions that left us in a place that we felt we had no other option. Remember the other day when I was talking about how I realized I was the happiest I have ever been, I can honestly say that was the worst I have ever been. It was a horrible experience; it affected our marriage, our emotions and our mental health. It was a rather long process but when all was said and done, my husband in his wisdom planted us into a church. We were both raised that you can do it all on your own until a crisis and then you get plugged in.

Anyway, a few months passed, I was working full-time; our 3 young children were in day care and/or public school full-time. My husband was going to school and working full-time. There was a lot of full-time going on and there was very little family time. My husband had a burden in his heart from the time that we were married to raise his family here in the mountains of NC. He also had a burden to start or should I say continue the vision of his father to have a family construction company.

Well 5 years ago, we sold what we could, we packed up everything we had and we moved here to NC. We moved into a camper. Now, I know you are thinking trailer, I am telling you this was a haul it behind your truck RV camper that wasn’t big enough to sleep our entire family. We put everything we owned in storage and lived in this RV in my in-laws yard. For 3 months we lived in that camper that wasn’t big enough for all of us. Our children would take turns sleeping in the main house where it was warm and they were close to the bathroom.

God had a plan for us. I know that now. After three months in the camper the church that we were attending offered to let us live in a house that they owned for $200 a month. It was all that we could do to afford that. My husband had taken a job making $8 an hour, and I was waiting tables. We were in a bad way. We knew there was more for us we just knew it. We just had to line ourselves up for what God had for us.

We started attending a different church, we found friends, started getting involved. It was almost 10 months after our move here that we were driving home from church to our little house that my husband looked at me and asked me if I would still love him if he quit his job and started this business that he knew that God had been building in his heart. Very unlike my husband he never went back to that job. He started making flyers and he started talking to people. The first job he did was raking a woman’s leaves. I don’t remember what he made, but he was doing his own thing and that was just the leap of faith that God needed to get involved and start to move in our life.

I sat here last night looking at my desk; we are closing on our third investment property tomorrow. We own our own home, the house next to us, we are building a log home about 40 minutes north of here and today we close on the adjoining lot. There are times that I look up at the heavens and just wonder how did we get here from there. There is only one answer. There is only one possibility.

I was telling my oldest son last night, there are so many times that we wonder how we are going to get through, and yet somehow, it always happens. The extravagance of God’s provision for my family is overwhelming, not the responsibility of it, but that God loves us enough to believe in us in a way that only He can. Our parents still doubt a lot of what is happening to us. The still are expecting the gauntlet to fall and for us to end up homeless and destitute. Even if we do, we trust that is God’s will for our lives. Do we have it all figured out? By no means, there are times monthly that my husband will look at me and say it’s going to take a miracle. It usually does and so far, God has met us abundantly every time.

The thing that God has really been sharing with me lately is that line from Field of Dreams, that Kevin Costner baseball movie. Where it says “Build it and they will come.” That is really what we are doing with our business this year. We are stepping out in arenas that we have never stepped in before but the awesomeness of God is that there are contacts and connections there that we never could have imagined. Every new door that opens we are greeted with familiar faces on the other side. God has put a lot of time and energy into the success of this plan and sometimes it seems daunting and sometimes we are waiting on the “immediately” God. He is faithful, he is with us and it is our prayer that he will continue to be.

That scripture in 2 Corinthians that I referred to before - I honestly believe that this is our testimony. There are people that will remember when we didn’t have a dime to our name. When we were so broke we couldn’t afford to pay attention. My husband has always been generous, but now he is even more so. We are faithful tithers, we give 10% of everything that we have. Some weeks it’s nothing, some weeks it’s a vast amount but we are diligent. God is diligent. Just three weeks ago, as I sat to open my Bible a $100 bill fell out. I have no idea who put it there. I thank them who ever it was. I know that it was God, and I honor the obedience of the person that he used.
We through our generosity will affect others. We will be able to change lives, we will be able to help young couples buy their first home, we will be able to provide a living for the men and women that work for this God birthed vision. We will be able to fund mission trips and help people get their educations. We will be able to do things that we only ever dreamed of because it isn’t our heart to build all of this for ourselves, but to be able to give out of it generously.

I look forward to writing large checks to our church, I look forward to being able to stick a $100 bill in someone’s Bible and being able to send an anonymous card at Christmas to a family that I know is in need. But even as I write that sentence God tells me that I can be generous on all occasions because he has made me rich in all things. Whether it’s my time, my home, my love, or my arms.

Deuteronomy 15:10, " Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."

Lord, I just sit here and cry at your provision. Lord, my marriage is prosperous, my children are prosperous, our business, our lives…all prosperous not because of anything that we have done but solely out of your grace and mercy. Lord, I love you in a new way. We are living by faith day in and day out and you are honoring that. Lord, it is our hearts desire to learn your ways of righteousness. Lord, it is our desire to learn more of you, to teach your ways to our children, to share with them your plan to do them good and not harm all the days of their lives. Lord, we pray ahead for this plan that you have for our lives. We pray that you will continue to guide us and to teach us. Lord, that you will continue to make those divine connections Lord that enable us to do your work and live your will. Lord, I thank you for the faith that you are growing in my husband. Lord, that as he watches this he sees your hand and tells others of it. Just makes me smile to think of it. Oh Lord why do we ever doubt you and your love for us and our lives? I thank you Daddy, for your love, your provision, your grace and your mercy. Lord, continue to use us to bring glory to your throne. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.