DOWN FOR THE COUNT
We steadly lost money for the first three quarters of 1996. What I had projected out was coming true. Regardless of these losses we were tithing my pretax salary along with additional offerings. In September of 1996 I attended a men's conference on stewardship. I don't remember much of what was said. I was writing a letter to myself and to the Lord. I explained how things were. I flirted with the notion of reducing my tithing committment, stating that it was too aggressive and couldn't be sustained. I decided that when the conference ended I was going to tell my wife exactly where we were financially, and ask her advice. I laid everything out. Here are our bills. Here is what we have left to pay those bills. We are not going to make it. We will be completely broke by the end of the year. The business will be out of assets and we will be in serious debt. I stated that our tithes and offerings simply could not be maintained at this time and asked her what to do. She said to me, "pay the Lord first." I couldn't believe it. I said, " apparently you do not realize the gravity of the situation. We don't have the money for anyone, much less God." She said to me, "pay the Lord first." It made me crazy. How could this be sensible advice?
Lest you get the wrong idea, my wife made her career in banking. She understood very well where we were financially. She also had been a life long tither. She was giving me the benefit of her experience. I did what she said. I paid the Lord our third quarter tithe as well as the offerings.
As you might expect, things got worse. By late November I found myself in a coffee shop staring into a bowl of soup. I closed my eyes and asked the Lord to bless the meal. I was very grateful for the food in front of me and that moment has stuck with me all these years.
We forged ahead. I hadn't lost the business yet. I was accumulating debt at an alarming rate. In January of 1997 we made some changes in our pricing and our expenses. We continued to go into debt but at a much slower rate. In the following year we hit the wall. My creditors would not be stalled any longer. I drove home on a rainy Tuesday and told my wife that I needed all her savings. She gave it to me. Sixteen years of savings was spent by me before noon that day. That bought us a little time and during that time we continued to restructure how the business was being run.
I tell you all these things so that God will be glorified. I didn't know at the time that He was purging the business. He took it to the ground to eliminate all the stolen money that had built the business. He showed me that giving was going to be and is to this day, our greatest spiritual gift.
Now let me keep the air clear. We face financial challenges every month. We are not highly profitable. There has been no expansion. We still live on a salary. God has made many changes in our daily business lives. We distribute free Bibles from both business locations. We honor Jesus Christ at every meeting. We have signage in both locations stating that "God Owns Our Business." My co-workers and I often seek each other out for prayer. We have demonstrated our committment to the Lord in the way we treat each customer. Many times we felt like we were under attack and being tested by the unreasonable demands we faced, but through it all God has provided and continues to provide.
Finally I must state, this is not a formula. This is about giving glory to God in every aspect of living. It's about putting Him first. It's about living in expctation of His will. It's about failing, and stumbling, and repenting, and renewal. It's about living out, "THY WILL BE DONE."
We steadly lost money for the first three quarters of 1996. What I had projected out was coming true. Regardless of these losses we were tithing my pretax salary along with additional offerings. In September of 1996 I attended a men's conference on stewardship. I don't remember much of what was said. I was writing a letter to myself and to the Lord. I explained how things were. I flirted with the notion of reducing my tithing committment, stating that it was too aggressive and couldn't be sustained. I decided that when the conference ended I was going to tell my wife exactly where we were financially, and ask her advice. I laid everything out. Here are our bills. Here is what we have left to pay those bills. We are not going to make it. We will be completely broke by the end of the year. The business will be out of assets and we will be in serious debt. I stated that our tithes and offerings simply could not be maintained at this time and asked her what to do. She said to me, "pay the Lord first." I couldn't believe it. I said, " apparently you do not realize the gravity of the situation. We don't have the money for anyone, much less God." She said to me, "pay the Lord first." It made me crazy. How could this be sensible advice?
Lest you get the wrong idea, my wife made her career in banking. She understood very well where we were financially. She also had been a life long tither. She was giving me the benefit of her experience. I did what she said. I paid the Lord our third quarter tithe as well as the offerings.
As you might expect, things got worse. By late November I found myself in a coffee shop staring into a bowl of soup. I closed my eyes and asked the Lord to bless the meal. I was very grateful for the food in front of me and that moment has stuck with me all these years.
We forged ahead. I hadn't lost the business yet. I was accumulating debt at an alarming rate. In January of 1997 we made some changes in our pricing and our expenses. We continued to go into debt but at a much slower rate. In the following year we hit the wall. My creditors would not be stalled any longer. I drove home on a rainy Tuesday and told my wife that I needed all her savings. She gave it to me. Sixteen years of savings was spent by me before noon that day. That bought us a little time and during that time we continued to restructure how the business was being run.
I tell you all these things so that God will be glorified. I didn't know at the time that He was purging the business. He took it to the ground to eliminate all the stolen money that had built the business. He showed me that giving was going to be and is to this day, our greatest spiritual gift.
Now let me keep the air clear. We face financial challenges every month. We are not highly profitable. There has been no expansion. We still live on a salary. God has made many changes in our daily business lives. We distribute free Bibles from both business locations. We honor Jesus Christ at every meeting. We have signage in both locations stating that "God Owns Our Business." My co-workers and I often seek each other out for prayer. We have demonstrated our committment to the Lord in the way we treat each customer. Many times we felt like we were under attack and being tested by the unreasonable demands we faced, but through it all God has provided and continues to provide.
Finally I must state, this is not a formula. This is about giving glory to God in every aspect of living. It's about putting Him first. It's about living in expctation of His will. It's about failing, and stumbling, and repenting, and renewal. It's about living out, "THY WILL BE DONE."
posted by Terry L. Burr | 7:22 PM
1 Comments:
Dad,
I guess had no idea that this period in 1996 was so difficult or you. This was all going down when Trish and I were staying with you while our house was being finished.
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