By: Leanne Branch

Leanne Branch — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:09:56 +0000

2010 will be marked as a turning point in our family. It will be remembered as the year we determined “This AIN’T working!” My husband and I have been in the ministry for close to 18 years, including the last nine that he has been a pastor. We have always faithfully tithed, given, and trusted the Lord to meet our needs, which He has always done. However, our debt grows steadily, especially now that we have children in college, and because we live in the parsonage, we have no equity to fall back on. We started by reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which completely altered my way of thinking and viewing the rich. The more we sought the Lord and prayed over our financial situation the more clear it became that we have been set free spiritually and emotionally but continue to live in financial bondage due to our debt and the constant nagging that says “There’s no way out.” We have learned to “be content” as Paul says and honestly don’t “worry about tomorrow, knowing tomorrow has enough trouble of its own”, but my heart is sickened by the number of prayer requests of faithful believers who do not have enough at the end of the paycheck, and by those who detest their jobs but are terrified to try anything else. All this brings me to the conclusion: “This AIN’T working!” I believe the church in general (at least in our congregation) is under the dilusion that as long as we give the 10% God requires the rest is ours to do with what we want. We still have a responsibility to be the best stewards we can be with the other 90%! And putting it away in a savings account that earns .05% , when other options are available AIN’T working! Thank you for your ministry at this website. I will be suggesting it to our members, many of whom I’ve already been trying to help rethink their current view of money. Since we just started rethinking around the end of December we have not yet invested. We do have a major plan for the coming year, are presently doing a LOT of research (hence your website!) and are already making minor changes in our spending/saving habits. One of the most important things we’ve already started doing is talking with our children (ages 21, 19, 17, and 9) about finances (something the school system is failing to do). Thank you again and God bless you! You’ll hear from me again!

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By: Leanne Branch