Oct. 5, 2006 - More to Life Than Money

Here's a great story from the October issue of Money Magazine titled, The Second-Chance Family by Paul Keegan.  Yes, it's a story about personal finances but it's also a story about the more important things in life.

Devastation

John and Nancy Wehrle had worked hard as teachers for 30 years and were on the cusp of a happy, comfortable retirement by 1998.  Their world was shattered, however, when the couple's only child, 16-year-old Matthew, died in an accidental fall in their barn in early 1999.  Compounding John's grief was the memory of having lost his only other child (a 14-year-old son from his first marriage) to a drunk driver in the mid-1980's.

The story goes on to relate how the Wehrle's sought refuge from their grief by spending money -- taking trips, remodeling their kitchen, buying a new car, etc. -- but all for naught.  Life was empty.  There was no purpose in living. 

The solution?

The Wehrle's ultimately found peace and purpose by pouring themselves into the adoption of three teenage, Russian orphans.  That's quite a load to take on for a retired couple in their early 60's!  It's also not the way to manage a successful retirement plan from a financial perspective.  The rest of the article focuses on some of those issues and some solutions.

Financial issues are important but not the most important.  The greatest lesson from this story isn't about money, but about people.

Consider three former orphans plucked from a bleak future and being transformed by loving parents.  Consider a heart-broken couple that could have withered away in bitterness but who now have purpose in life.

I don't know if the Wehrle's are Christian or not, but they have applied a very Christian principle from John 15:13:

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friend."

Sometimes that "life" is in the form of a comfortable retirement.  But what is that compared to three happy children and a renewed sense of purpose for living?  There's more to life than a great retirement plan.  There's more to life than money.

Dec. 27, 2005 - The Best Present of All

I am continually amazed at how God's ways are so much better than our ways.

If you're like me, then you enjoy receiving gifts on your birthday or at Christmas.  Isn't it fun and exciting to see what surprises lurk beneath the wrapping paper?  God made us that way and we should enjoy the things we receive.  Nothing wrong with that.

But there is no greater joy than giving.

It truly is better to give than receive.  Giving to others is key to fulfilling the commandment of God to "love one another."  You just can't be more loving than to give freely of your time, talents, treasure, or life for others.

Such was the case for our family during this past Christmas holiday.

We knew of a homeschool family that was in desperate need:

• Christian couple with 5 children
• Father working two jobs to make ends meet (barely)
• Renting a tiny, two bedroom house
• One month behind on the rent
• Furnace not properly working
• Stove not properly working

In short, good people working hard but with no immediate prospects for improvement.  They didn't have any assets to count on...except for God.

About three weeks before Christmas, the father told me they were using the fireplace to heat the house because they didn't want to bother the landlord since they were behind on the rent.  That was more than my heart could take.  I wanted to help but knew that I could not meet this family's need alone.

What could one person do?  Not much.  But many people can do much when they work together.

God gave me the idea to take up an "offering" for this family from among our friends.  I had a specific vision of raising enough money to cover the back rent ($1,200), to buy groceries ($300), and have an extra $100 for Christmas.

None of our friends knew this particular family in need.  Yet over the next two weeks we raised $1,585!!!  When each gives a little, much can be done.

We had this family over a week before Christmas to surprise them with this financial blessing from complete strangers.  They were shocked beyond words.  (So was their landlord when he got the rent.)  What a testimony to God's faithfulness!

You can understand that this family was joyful.  That's a given.  Their long-term problems weren't solved but God met their immediate need at a critical time.  He did it in ways they would never have expected.  That's a great story in itself.

But the story doesn't end there.

I am convinced that the greatest blessing was being part of God's plan to meet this family's need.  Everyone who gave was an important part of that story.  God touched many hearts, not just the family in need.  As a bonus, my family was privileged to witness the passing of this blessing from many families to one.  We got to see the joy on their faces and hear it in their voices.

You can't get that experience or feeling from a wrapped box.  It's the best present of all and it only comes from giving.