The Truth About Money - 2

Part Two - Learning To Be Married - Learning To Give

By the time I graduated from High School I had learned one money lesson: If you don't have it you can't spend it. I had mowed lawns, done some occasional baby-sitting, and sold both Christmas cards to used golf balls to earn the little money I had - and spent it all. I got my first real job (McDonalds) when I was about 16 and worked it for about six months. Then I took part in some kind of High School program for kids learning to work and got a job delivering for an area Florist. I quit that job because of a conflict with a major High School event and delivering on Valentines Day. Between my Senior year of High School and college, a friend helped me get work at a local greenhouse. Every job taught me something new and I worked hard.

My parents helped me with the first two years of college. Between their help and several student jobs I was able to complete my AA Degree debt free. During that time two very important things happened.

1. I met and fell in love with a girl named Marla.
2. I learned about giving 10% to God.

To be honest, I was not very smart in either subject. The attraction to Marla was powerful but I was pretty immature. The idea of giving to God was clear but I didn't put it into practice for about eight months.This probably won't make sense to you but the reason I didn't start giving was that I already had some money (a few hundred dollars) saved in my college bank account. I couldn't figure out whether to start giving 10% including that saved money or only to give 10% based on money I earned from that point forward - so I did nothing.

About eight months later I went in to get some money out of my account and there was nothing in it. Not one penny. I had probably just spent it here and there as I always did. As I walked back outside I heard God's voice within me ask, "Are you ready to start giving 10% now?" I actually thought it was pretty funny that God had resolved my dilemma so that I could start obeying his principle. I have never stopped giving and it has been a pretty exciting adventure.

I also married Marla after those two years of college. We started with humble beginnings. I had a part time job as a Youth Pastor. We received enough from wedding gifts to take a four day honeymoon on the Oregon Coast. We moved into a two bedroom apartment owned by one of the Pastors at our church - complete with mushrooms which grew in the carpet because of condensation from the sliding glass window. I went out to buy a cheap couch to go with the bricks and boards we had for bookshelves and second-hand dinette. I asked the furniture store owner if he needed any help and began working for him; selling and delivering furniture. We had a car - a 10+ year old huge Ford LTD which got about 4 miles/gallon and burned about a cup of oil every time you started it. Money was tight and the subject was not one we talked about very well.

We bought food at "Mark and Pack" where they gave you a grease pen to write the price on cans, etc. rather than pay an employee to mark them and you bagged your own groceries. It was the cheapest place in town. We used coupons on top of it and gave homemade gifts as Christmas presents. It was tight. Marla coined the phrase she later taught all three of our girls, "Never pay full price." She worked a series of jobs to add to what I brought home from the furniture store and the church. Eventually the church brought me on as a full time Youth Pastor.

I remember clearly being in church one Sunday and having Marla tell me we had $2.00 in our checking account. It was time for the offering and she wanted to know what to do. Our regular gift at that time was $50 twice a month (which was 10% so that tells you what our income was). Anyway, I told her we should go ahead and give it and trust God for what we needed. On the way home I reached into the pocket of the jacket I was wearing and pulled out a folded check for $50. Someone had given it to me for helping at a wedding several months earlier and I had forgotten all about it. We learned: We do our part and trust God to do His.

We had been married a couple of years when we got pregnant. Marla worked her School Aide job as long as she could but then quit to be a mom. We received WIC which helped but I was still employed on meager wages at the church. When our Pastor/Landlord decided he had to raise the rent from $150 to $175 we decided we would have to move and found a house out in Orchards to take our baby girl to. The heat was a forced air unit in the middle of the house. I actually built a cardboard channel to make sure some heat got back to our baby's room. I can't even tell you how money stretched during that time but we were never late on a bill and always had enough.

We decided to sell the Ford ($300 - same as I paid for it) and looked for a more reliable car. I learned an important lesson. Reliability is better than popularity. I became a student of the Consumer Report and simply refused to buy anything with a poor reliability record for engine, transmission or electrical issues. We found a 10 year old Datsun (now Nissan) 510 Wagon which we drove for the next 5 years all the way through seminary.

The next part is about God's provision and a $300,000 debt.