Below you will find a testimony from some very dear people in my life. People who I call my spiritual advisors/mentors/parents. They truly know what it means to live within their means and to sow into God's kingdom. We are blessed to have them in our lives! I will not ramble any longer, but I pray you would see two things in this testimony: discipline and diligence. As a result of these two things, the favor of God rests upon their lives because of their obedient hearts.
We were married in 1987, and our first mutual investment was heating oil futures in the commodities market, and we lost every penny. We did not get rich quick...but we were both working in corporate America and this was just one of the many ways we found to spend money. Fortunately, we did manage to make some intelligent choices and establish some retirement savings along the way.
In 1991, we felt in control of our future and decided to start a business in antiques. And though an accountant advised that this would not work, we just knew it couldn't fail. I (Judy) quit my job testing computer software to run the new business. Four years later when the store lease finally ended, we were about $110,000 in credit card debt from covering the business losses. We continued the business on a much smaller scale and were able to start making a profit, but not enough to repay the debt.
Gary and I continued to struggle in a very worldly fashion by transferring credit card balances and making minimum payments until 2001. That's the year we both gave our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and discovered Crown Financial Ministries. In January of 2002 we led our first Crown Small group study.
The revelation knowledge of what God says about stewardship, in this bible study, is phenomenal. In addition to studying God's Word, we implemented Crown's practical approach to our budgeting and spending. The wisdom we received from God's Word has truly helped us get our financial life in order, and it could have saved us from many of the poor financial decisions we made prior to 2002.
One of the first practical applications in the Crown study was to create a debt summary of what we owed. Comparing our original summary from 2001 to various points since, it is a blessing to see how God has worked through our application of His principles.
In just three years, we had reduced our total debt by $40,000. In addition, we had taken control of our spending by living within our budget, had transferred the remaining credit card debt into our mortgage, and had paid off our credit card bills with no balance every month for over two years. We had gone from no emergency savings to 3-4 months of living expenses saved.
Another area of our finances impacted by this study was how we viewed our automobiles. In 2002, we were emotionally ready to upgrade our older vehicle for a newer one. This would have burdened us by continuing with two car payments. However, this would not meet our budget so we decided to hold off getting a new car. Instead, we maintained our car expenses to within our budgeted amount, paid off the second car and started setting aside money for the future purchase of a new used car. In 2006, we were able to replace our older vehicle by paying cash for a newer used car.
The most significant change to our spending occurred in the area of giving. When we took the Crown course our total giving was about equal to our tithe. As we filled out our taxes for 2004 and did the math, we found that our giving had increased to over 15% of our income.
Our long term goal was to become completely debt free, and in January 2007, we felt God place it upon our hearts to achieve this goal. It required a step of faith because Gary would have to change employers, and we would have to leave the area we had lived in for 26 years. Within three months of starting his search, Gary had a job offer and we decided to make the move.
When shopping for our new house, we kept moving up our price range because of our emotional desires. About three weeks into the search we both, independently, felt in our spirits the need to refocus on our objective, and downscale our price range. Within a week the right house at the right price came on the market.
When our old house sold, we were able to tithe on the increase on the value of our old home, and pay off our new mortgage before the first payment was due.
Since August 2007, we have been free of all debts and continue to give generously into God’s kingdom. However, the most rewarding result from taking the Crown Small group study has been the walk with God that brought us out of debt and closer to God.
Sincerely,
Gary & Judy
If that isn't a financial testimony then I don't know what is. Trey and I are doing our best to implement the tools that I have learned in Crown as well as the guidance and direction of Gary and Judy. I remember Gary and Judy talking to me about emergency savings last summer. Making sure that Trey and I were ok, if God forbid, a financial crisis hit our home. Well, seeing as though we are in a time of transition, I find it reassuring and extremely grateful that Gary and Judy had that talk with me. Thankfully, we have set aside enough funds to sustain us through this time of transition. Thank you, Lord!
I pray this has blessed you. Enjoy your Sunday!
