Todd asked me to do this post today based upon yesterday's message. You can listen to the podcast by CLICKING HERE. There are always two sides to every story and Todd shared very personally his journey. I wanted to share mine as this idea of contentment was a very different experience for me.
I grew up in a bi-vocational minister's family. This means that my dad was a full-time pastor and had a full-time job. We had everything that we needed, but not much if any money for extras. My parents taught me to be thankful for what we had. They taught us to pray for things that we wanted when we couldn't afford them. I remember in High School that I had an Athletic Banquet to attend and I did not have a dress to wear that I thought was appropriate. We didn't have the money for it. I prayed about it. Out of the blue, a couple in our church took my sisters and I shopping two weeks before the event and bought us some new clothes. I grew up with an understanding of how money and your spiritual life were connected.I also learned how to be content with what we had and I really give credit to my parents for that in my life.
When Todd and I got married, I didn't think twice about him handling our finances. I trusted him. But, we were so young and really never talked about how different our backgrounds were when it came to money. The first time Todd told me that he had gotten us into trouble, I took over the finances and in 5 years, we were debt free. This allowed us to follow God's calling and move to NYC. There was such freedom in being able to do whatever God asked of us because we had no debt. This second time was the experience Todd mentioned yesterday that was a tipping point in our marriage. I had turned the finances back over to Todd in 2005 and by 2007, we were in a worse place than ever before.
As Todd said, he had to have a paradigm shift in his thinking not just a behavioral change. I truly believe that this has happened in Todd's life over the last 6-12 months. God continues to restore our marriage and our finances and we are weeks away from closing on a house with breathing room to do it. I share this today as a testimony of God's grace and his faithfulness in our lives. We are thankful to be at a place where we can share our story of restoration and redemption with you. I share a little more about this at my blog today as well. I think Henri Nouwen summed it up the best...
"We like to make a distinction between our private and public lives and say, “Whatever I do in my private life is nobody else’s business.” But anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal. What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life.
Jesus says, “No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15). The most inner light is a light for the world. Let’s not have “double lives”; let us allow what we live in private to be known in public."
Comments