Participants:
Series Code: AFH
Program Code: AFH000018A
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00:01 A good father takes time to play.
00:05 He has strong integrity. 00:08 He is someone that is truly dedicated. 00:12 He is not afraid to show his love. 00:15 He is a caring provider. 00:19 And he is a kind spiritual leader. 00:23 These are just a few ways to describe a father's heart. 00:32 Hi and welcome to A Father's Heart. 00:34 I'm your host Xavier. 00:35 And today, we're going to be discussing 00:37 the financial hardships or being broke as a father 00:41 and those kind of things 00:42 that are burdensome on a father's shoulders. 00:45 And today, to speak about 00:46 this is my friends Gordon and Denry. 00:48 How are you guys doing? Doing great. 00:50 We're doing great, man. Blessed and highly favored. 00:53 All right. 00:54 You know, there's a lot of hardships 00:57 that families go through, there's a lot of hardships 00:59 and a lot of things that are ingrained into us as, 01:04 you know, young kids and into adulthood, 01:06 and that is the sense of being a provider for a family. 01:09 Yeah. 01:11 How do we instill some of those values 01:13 or how do we even begin to make sense 01:16 of what it's like to be a provider 01:18 and while being broke and not having any money? 01:22 Well, let me redefine. 01:24 I want to just redefine one word. 01:26 I don't call it broke 01:28 'cause I'm never broke 'cause I'm a child of the King. 01:29 That's right. 01:31 And because I'm a child of the King, 01:32 I know who to go to when I need something. 01:34 So for me, as a father, 01:36 my children see that part of me 01:38 that I'm always praying and sharing openly with them 01:43 about our financial situation and what we're going through, 01:46 what we need, you know, we sit down 01:49 and I'm a big believer in budget. 01:53 So I would just literally show them, 01:56 "Okay, this is how we budget." 01:58 My wife on the other hand, you know, she is okay. 02:00 You set the budget up 02:02 and she will kind of do her own thing, 02:04 but that's all right. 02:05 But any... 02:07 And the important thing, I think, as a father, 02:09 being able to show your children 02:12 the real struggles of finances 02:15 because money is not something that you can just let fly 02:20 'cause if you don't handle it, it will handle you. 02:21 I mean that's so... 02:23 That's just my take on it. 02:24 I don't know what Denry has to offer here. 02:27 I'm not as sanctified as Gordon. 02:31 I've been broke. I mean, I'm blessed. 02:34 Yes. But I've been broke. 02:35 So you're not broke, you're blessed. 02:37 Blessed and broke. 02:39 Broke transition into bless, whatever you want to call it. 02:42 But I know the taste of the venom of being broke 02:45 and it hurts, even as a pastor. 02:48 You know, my wife is not working right now, 02:50 she's a student in college, my children are in school, 02:54 and taking on that burden of preparing, making sure that, 02:58 one, they can go to school, they have food at home, 03:03 so we have to buy the food, all right? 03:05 The bills are paid, the lights are on. 03:07 You know, that consumes a lot of your income. 03:10 And so there's been times when we had rice and beans. 03:15 We had rice and bean meals for days, 03:17 you know, we had some ramen noodles 03:19 or those kind of things because... 03:21 It's been what... 03:22 Now we've never missed a meal, 03:25 so this is where the blessing part comes in. 03:26 Never missed a meal, the lights never went off, 03:30 never got ejected out of our house, 03:33 and all those things. 03:34 Two cars, this year, the Lord provided 03:38 and also our children pay for school, 03:42 my wife pay for school. 03:44 You see what I'm saying? So this is what I'm saying. 03:46 Yes, I might feel broke, but yes, I'm blessed 03:49 because God just takes the little bit 03:51 that we have and he just blesses it 03:54 and covers in so much demographics that I'm like... 03:58 You're right. 03:59 I might feel broke but I'm truly blessed. 04:01 The blessings, you know... 04:03 I had to share a quick story with you. 04:05 When I first got married so many years ago, 04:07 just God's goodness and God's... 04:10 My lights were off. 04:13 You know, my son was about four years old 04:17 and I got home from work and we had no lights 04:20 and, you know, everything is on electric, 04:21 the stove, everything. 04:23 So we couldn't cook, we couldn't do anything, 04:25 and I'm like, "Man, oh." 04:27 And I'm frustrated. I said, "Not again." 04:30 So I put my son in the back of the car 04:32 and I'm gonna drive to one of the restaurants 04:34 and just get something so that he can eat. 04:36 And I am literally fussing with God as I'm driving. 04:40 "God, I'm serving you. 04:42 God, I'm doing all of this, 04:43 and here I am, in this position. 04:46 And, you know, I'm working, my wife is working." 04:48 I'm just fussing with God. 04:50 And I drove into the parking lot, 04:52 and, you know, tears, 04:53 I'm angry, I want to just give up. 04:56 You know, I don't know if you've ever been there, 04:58 just want to give up. 04:59 And at the back... 05:01 In the back of the car seat, 05:04 I heard, "Oh, yes, He cares. 05:07 I know He cares." 05:09 Mercy. My four-year old. 05:10 Wow. 05:12 I nearly crashed a car 05:13 as I pulled into that parking lot. 05:15 Wow. 05:16 And I stopped the car and I said, "Wait a minute. 05:19 This is my son 05:21 and here is God answering me through him, 05:25 telling me that He cares." 05:27 And I'll tell you, from that there, 05:29 I got a different perspective of my God and, as a father, 05:34 how He deals with me. 05:35 Yeah. You know, through my son. 05:38 I mean, I'll tell you, it was a powerful thing for me, 05:40 a powerful moment. 05:42 I stopped crying, changed my perspective, 05:45 I stopped being angry, I stopped fussing with God. 05:47 And I know that I had to make some changes 05:49 because at that time, I wasn't operating on a budget. 05:52 We were just operating 05:54 as the money comes, you spend it. 05:55 Yes. 05:57 And so, you know, we were just living, 05:58 and I had to learn 05:59 how to do some things to make some changes, 06:02 and the struggle is there. 06:03 God just gives us enough for the day, 06:08 He has never really given us a whole lot. 06:10 So, you know, it's just a day-by-day thing for me. 06:13 You know, I gathered two things from what each of you said. 06:15 You know, Denry, you're talking about being broke versus 06:20 what broke really means. 06:21 But both of you and myself, we have something in common, 06:25 we have good helpmates. 06:27 Amen. 06:28 I go out, with me, I like to spend, 06:30 I like to spend, you know, right? 06:33 Why cook when I can go out to eat? 06:35 You know, why I have a car 06:37 that has over 100, 000 miles when I can just, 06:40 "Hey, why not, we'll just payments 06:41 on the new car." 06:43 But you know, my wife taught me that not being broke 06:47 is not what culturally being broke means. 06:50 What I mean to say is, Caribbean culture, 06:54 you live in accordance to your means, 06:56 and that's one thing 06:58 I'm trying to instill in my girls, live in... 07:00 And I haven't forgotten about that. 07:01 You live in accordance to your means. 07:03 If you make 20,000, 30,000 a year, 07:06 you don't live like you make millions a year, 07:08 and that's one thing that I instill in my girls 07:10 because obviously, 07:12 culture has a big influence on men, 07:15 especially as fathers and being providers, 07:17 you got to have the best job, the best income, the best car, 07:21 the best of everything. 07:23 When in reality, as Christian men, 07:26 God already has the best of everything, 07:28 we just got to be patient enough. 07:30 And one of the things that I had a conversation 07:32 with my five-year old daughter about was going out to eat. 07:36 I sat down with her and I discussed with her, 07:38 "Hey, you know, that money that you're using 07:40 that we can use to go out and get one meal, 07:43 we could probably use that money to buy 07:45 a few different meals at the store, 07:47 the grocery store. 07:48 We'll buy some groceries that can make 07:50 for a few different meals." 07:51 But you know, living this dream, as they say, 07:55 the American dream, it means to spend, splurge. 07:59 And to me, 08:01 that's irresponsible stewardship, 08:03 you know, that's one thing... 08:04 I don't know. 08:05 How do you feel about teaching our kids 08:07 from early on what it means to be 08:08 good stewards of God's money 08:11 because He is the one giving you the money? 08:12 That's right. 08:13 What do you think about teaching our kids stewardship? 08:15 That's the other dynamic. 08:17 So you know, we talk about being broke, 08:19 and a lot of times, it maybe you're inability to, 08:24 you know, position yourself in a better job or whatever. 08:26 But most of the time, let's be honest with ourselves, 08:30 it's because we're living above what we make. 08:34 And so, you know, our cultures... 08:38 You know, 'cause this happens to different groups, 08:40 different races. 08:42 Many times, we get money, 08:44 we feel like we have to spend it 08:45 to buy the biggest car, the biggest house, 08:48 you know, to show people off. 08:49 We live for now, 08:51 so there's a mentality of spending money 08:53 that you live for now. 08:54 So what we teach our children at home 08:56 is the importance of saving, 08:59 but not just saving but save for purposes. 09:02 One of my sons, he blew my wife and I away. 09:06 He just mentioned, 09:08 you know, some of what you said, 09:09 he wants to go out. 09:10 He said, "Can we just have a day 09:12 where we just go out to maybe Applebee's, right?" 09:14 And he said, "How much would it cost?" 09:16 I said, "For five of us, roughly around, 09:20 you know, $40 to $50, right?" 09:23 He said, "Okay." 09:24 Two days later, he said, 09:25 "Daddy, do you think there's things I could do, 09:27 like around the house where I can, you know, 09:29 maybe work a little bit, you give me a couple dollars." 09:32 This guy is eight years old, right? 09:35 So I said, "Yeah, yeah. We could do. 09:36 Wash mom's car. Blah, blah, blah." 09:38 So he's been doing these different things, 09:39 then he has money in the safe, he came to me the other day 09:43 and he poured out all this money. 09:45 He said, "Daddy, I got $50. Can we go now?" 09:50 But then I said to him, "Well, this is good. 09:53 I want you to save $50 more 09:55 because what I don't want you to do 09:57 is spend your $50 and then you're broke." 10:02 I said, "The wise thing what we do, 10:03 spend your $50 but you still have $50 10:05 in reserve in case of emergency." 10:08 So now he's working towards that. 10:09 I believe that's practical. 10:11 So he can have his fun, you know, he can have some fun, 10:15 but he can also preserve for the future. 10:17 Here's where I'm different. 10:19 My difference is 10:20 you live poor now so you can live rich later. 10:24 So whatever you have to save... 10:27 Why go out to eat when I can cook at home 10:30 and just eat at home? 10:32 And the same thing I tell my children. 10:34 Both of them are, you know, some of them have been working, 10:37 and I've been saying to them, 10:39 "You have to put something up, you have to put something." 10:43 The thing about our culture is that we live for the moment 10:47 and we don't live to leave inheritance 10:49 to our children. 10:50 Exactly. 10:51 As fathers, we just live and we just... 10:53 We want to spend everything, no inheritance. 10:54 We don't think about investments, 10:56 we don't think about, 10:58 "Okay, what's going to happen four years, 11:00 five years when we die? 11:02 Something we can pass down to them." 11:03 So I think and I'm a firm believer 11:07 is that you have to teach responsible stewardship, 11:10 you have to teach how to save, you have to teach that. 11:13 Every time you get some money, you want to go burn it 11:16 and buy a pair shoes or, you know... 11:19 I saw folks who'd be buying Jordan's 11:22 or all of these different kind of sneakers, 11:28 but yet, they don't have the money, 11:32 and the kids are not having a good education, 11:35 or things are not happening at home. 11:38 So I really... 11:39 I'm a firm believer that we need 11:41 to teach our children to be responsible. 11:43 Teach them how to invest, 11:45 teach them how to put money away, 11:47 teach them how to budget the money 11:49 because if you don't have a good control of money, 11:52 the money will control you. 11:54 And before you know it, 11:56 you wouldn't have anything left. 11:58 I teach my kids, "Make sure that before you spend it, 12:01 it's on the paper. 12:03 I want to see. 12:04 I want to see it on the paper before you spend it." 12:06 You said you differ from me 12:08 but you're basically saying the same thing 12:10 that I'm saying but you're looking 12:12 at a different perspective, right? 12:13 Probably. 12:15 Think about it, you work hard, 12:16 there is a point that you need to appreciate 12:19 what you're working, right? 12:20 I'm not saying for you to work 12:23 and splurge your money all the time you get it. 12:25 Now and then, you do need to delight in what you did. 12:28 My wife loves, once in a while, me taking her out. 12:31 My mother... 12:33 I got it from my mother. 12:34 She disliked... 12:35 Talking about dads. She disliked my dad. 12:38 When they first got ordained, 12:39 he used to take her out now and then. 12:42 Then he just got into this, 12:43 I don't know if it was religion, 12:44 or his view, philosophy, he just stopped. 12:47 And till today, she is like, 12:49 "Man, I just wish he just take me out. 12:51 Just... 12:52 I don't want to cook all the time. 12:53 I don't want to cook every day. 12:55 I just want to sit down, 12:56 let somebody serve me, let's pay... 12:58 Let's help bless somebody else 13:00 so that they can take food home for their family." 13:03 And so it's not that I'm saying... 13:05 Live I said, I said the same you're saying. 13:06 I said, "Spend the money wisely." 13:08 I told him, "Raise the money. 13:10 You want to go to this particular restaurant, 13:13 raise that money, but raise additional money 13:16 so you're not spending your money and wasting it, 13:20 you also have money in reserve." 13:21 So we're saying the same thing, I think we just... 13:25 You have to enjoy life. 13:27 Solomon says enjoy it. Amen. 13:29 I enjoy life, I don't have to spend. 13:33 Starting to say things in my life. 13:35 You guys sound like you're saying the same thing, 13:37 it's just, you know, being wise in what you invest in, 13:40 enjoy it but don't be wasteful. 13:43 Exactly. 13:45 You know, if you enjoy to go out, 13:47 plan ahead and have proper cushion, 13:51 especially for your kids, 13:52 so they can understand that concept. 13:53 You know, I grew up in a home, again, Puerto Rico, 13:56 we were good, you know, we lived great, 13:59 never above our means. 14:00 We move out and it seems like we get caught up 14:04 and, "Let's go out to eat, let's go out to eat." 14:06 When my wife and I... 14:08 Things were like... 14:09 One of the first years we were married, it was... 14:11 We sat down to do our budget 14:13 and we had spent like 400 bucks that month on eating out. 14:17 I nearly... 14:18 I almost passed out. 14:19 And I'm not a budgeter 14:21 but when I saw that, I was like... 14:22 You know, and it wasn't big expenses, 14:27 it was little, like a drop in a bucket. 14:29 You know, I'm like, "We did what? 14:32 We did what? Spend 400 bucks on going out. 14:34 We could have used that, you know... 14:35 That's money for groceries 14:38 for two or three months right there." 14:40 Yeah. 14:42 You know, so that's kind of a sobering thought. 14:44 What I teach my kids is "Don't be a prude. 14:49 Don't, you know, be so stingy that you don't enjoy life, 14:53 but at the same time, be wise." 14:55 And one of the things that I found refreshing, 14:58 and we use it a lot in church but it made no sense 15:00 until I started properly tithing, 15:03 which is a separate topic altogether, 15:06 but, you know, I really hold tithe to, 15:09 you know... 15:10 And Malachi talks about it. 15:11 When you gift God, we give that 10% out of your paycheck, 15:16 even though it might seem like a lot 15:18 and you might be left with what you think is nothing. 15:21 When I look back at every single time 15:23 that I tithe, not only physically 15:25 but emotionally from my heart, gave with joy, 15:29 every bill was paid and I had a surplus every time. 15:33 But my question is, what about the fathers that are divorced, 15:39 the ones that are having to pay 15:40 hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars 15:42 in child support? 15:43 What do you say to those men that are, 15:45 well, in their eyes, they are broke 15:47 because they have no paycheck? 15:49 I want to answer that, 15:50 but I want to also talk about the tithe, 15:53 which I think is not a separate topic 15:55 because it goes within this whole budget thing 15:56 and how to do it. 15:58 This is the first thing 15:59 that we ought to take off of the top. 16:01 You're tithe and your offering, what's given to God 16:03 and what's staying in local church, that is... 16:07 If you're making a small amount of money, 16:10 if you have all the child support 16:12 that you... 16:13 whatever it is that you have, 16:15 that needs to come off at the top first. 16:17 And that's where your trust level comes in 16:20 and then you allow God to do the rest. 16:23 But if we worry about, 16:25 "Oh, I don't have enough for this. 16:27 I don't have enough for that." 16:29 And so we hold back on Lord 16:32 and we don't receive the blessings, 16:34 then there's nothing added to us. 16:37 So for me, and I can just tell you, 16:41 I had an issue with it. 16:43 I'm just going to be very plain. 16:45 I had an issue with tithe 16:47 'cause I worry about what the church is going to do, 16:48 what this is, and all that kind of stuff. 16:51 And I never have money, never had money. 16:54 Let me put it again. I never had money. 16:56 And we were working for a very good money. 17:00 But after I gave up, I said, 17:02 "You know, I don't care what's going to happen. 17:04 I'm going to be obedient to what God says." 17:06 Yes. 17:07 'Cause I have two little children 17:09 coming up and... 17:10 I have to live an exemplary life 17:13 so they can see. 17:15 So I said, "You know what, I surrender." 17:18 Allow God to do it. 17:19 I started being faithful with my tithe, 17:21 being faithful with my offering. 17:23 And I'm telling you, 17:24 God has blessed over and over and over again 17:29 because that's what He promised. 17:31 So I will say to any father out there 17:33 that is struggling financially, any father that have 17:38 all these different child supports 17:40 and they can't make it, 17:41 take whatever little you have and you give that 10% plus 17:47 some to God and allow God to deal with the rest. 17:51 You know, these men who are fathers 17:55 who have gone through divorce 17:58 or they're widower or they, 18:01 you know, stepped out of their relation, 18:03 whatever the reason they have a child 18:05 and they're not with the wife, 18:07 you know, there is that burden that comes with this. 18:12 You know, child support, alimony, 18:13 or they got to pay the debt of the wife, 18:16 whatever the case maybe, there is that burden. 18:19 And I think what we could do to encourage fathers 18:23 is to empower them. 18:26 Some cultures and communities have these circles 18:30 where basically they stretch money 18:34 around each other, okay? 18:37 So we will come together, we will come together and say, 18:41 God forbid, "My wife passed. 18:43 And he went through a divorce." 18:45 And, you know, you're still stable, 18:47 you know, we can stretch our money out, 18:49 we loan from each other, 18:51 we pass our money on, we support, 18:53 we encourage each other, we..." 18:55 Okay, you know, I have a job opening next week 18:59 at the company I work at. 19:00 Why don't you apply for it?" 19:02 So we empower each other, then we teach them, 19:06 "Okay, how do you live with this money 19:08 that you're making? 19:10 Before you were making thousands and thousands 19:12 of dollars, 19:13 but with all this new financial restraint, 19:15 you can only live with this much." 19:17 So education. So empower, educate, right? 19:22 And then, you know, we teach them now to equip, 19:25 we equip them. 19:27 We equip them with financial resources. 19:29 What to do with some investments 19:31 that you can tap into? 19:33 I don't think we really have 19:35 that too much dialogue in churches 19:37 and in our community of what to do with money, 19:41 how to make money work for you? 19:42 We do know how to save. 19:44 Our grandma does know how to save. 19:45 They put it under their mattress. 19:47 But there's more things they could do also 19:49 with the money that is saved 19:51 if we teach and educate these men, 19:53 especially those who are in hardship. 19:55 One thing that we're... 19:56 I'm going to just tell you, 19:58 this is a very passionate thing for me 20:01 because I'm tired of seeing, especially the black community, 20:05 live below the level that they're living at. 20:08 Yes. 20:10 And the reason why is that 20:11 they don't know how to handle money. 20:13 Yes. 20:14 And so what I have started 20:16 and it's beginning to start in the church. 20:18 I've met a young man and he had the skill set... 20:21 Because I'm a pastor, 20:22 you know, I don't have the time to do everything. 20:24 He has a skill set, he was a stockbroker, 20:26 and we were talking, 20:28 and I shared my vision with him. 20:29 I want to start an investment club 20:31 in my church. 20:32 I want to be able to teach people 20:34 how to invest, how to save, how to budget. 20:38 And so he was able to put up a curriculum together, 20:42 whereby we're going to start that very thing. 20:44 We got to be able to teach people 20:46 how to do these things. 20:48 When they learned, they know how to invest their money, 20:50 they have become empowered. 20:52 What do you... 20:53 You put a... 20:54 You get $500 and you invest that $500 20:56 and then you see later on, you get $510, 21:00 you know, and then you see that growing 21:02 and you understand compound interest, 21:04 you understand all these things, 21:05 you get excited about it and it really empowers you 21:09 to save more. 21:11 And you don't need to have a lot of money. 21:13 So even that father that's struggling 21:15 or that parent that is struggling, 21:17 you don't have to have a lot of money 21:19 to start something, 21:21 to start saving, to start investing. 21:23 Just think about leaving an inheritance 21:25 for your children. 21:26 I think that's important is just teaching our kids 21:28 how to budget, you know, 21:29 'cause we think about budgeting, 21:31 we think about big numbers, you know, but I'm... 21:33 You know, my wife went through something that 21:36 these individuals she was with... 21:39 Two of them went out 21:40 and were given a X amount of money 21:44 and they ended up buying a package 21:46 of a particular item that was five dollars, 21:48 you know, where they could have... 21:50 Right next to it, was the same exact item, 21:53 different brand but for less. 21:56 You know, we get caught up in brand names, 21:58 and that's one thing that I try to teach my kids. 22:01 Just because this is this brand and this brand is glorified, 22:05 it doesn't mean you can't get the same quality for less, 22:09 quality over quantity. 22:10 Yeah. Yeah. 22:11 And that's one thing... 22:13 How do you teach your kids quality over quantity? 22:15 Again, it starts with that understanding of, 22:18 you don't have to live like the Joneses, 22:21 you don't have to follow 22:22 whatever everybody else is doing. 22:25 So if they want to buy whatever it is, 22:29 you don't have to do that. 22:31 Know how to handle your money. 22:32 A great system that I teach my children, 22:35 I tell to people about is an envelope system. 22:38 So you have an envelope for everything, 22:40 and so if you're going to buy shoes, 22:43 you have your shoe envelope. 22:44 And so every time 22:45 you get some money, you put a dollar, 22:47 you put $10, whatever it is, that's your shoe envelope, 22:50 your grocery envelope. 22:51 So you have an envelope system 22:53 where you're putting your money in. 22:55 So whenever you have that amount, 22:58 you just take it out of that envelope 23:00 and you use it. 23:02 If there's nothing left in the envelope, 23:03 then you can't buy whatever name brand 23:05 or whatever you think you have to buy 23:08 or you feel that you need. 23:09 So I think, those are the things 23:12 that you enforce in your children, 23:14 then they begin to understand, "Wait a minute. 23:16 There is value in money." 23:18 And when they realize there's value in money, 23:21 name, brand, and all that stuff will go out the window. 23:24 Another important element, and you touched on it, 23:28 but I think because you're speaking 23:30 to a wide demographic 23:33 and good amount of people pray, its prayer. 23:36 Oh, yes. 23:38 Now I've... 23:39 You know, our parents were private with that stuff, 23:42 they didn't talk about finances, 23:44 talk about the hardship until we got older. 23:46 "Like, man, wow. 23:47 You guys really had... 23:49 We thought everything was good." 23:50 So what my wife 23:52 and I have been starting to engage 23:55 with our children in prayer 23:57 that we are 23:59 in a financial blunder right now 24:02 and we're looking to the Lord for help. 24:05 And in our prayers, we were saying, 24:07 you know, "Lord, you know, right now, 24:08 the kids need to go to school. 24:10 You know, this is going on. 24:11 Financially, right now, we don't have it." 24:14 And for the children to see that God answered the prayer, 24:19 they're in school, this is... 24:20 whatever, that increases their faith. 24:23 So faith is truly something that we need to capitalize 24:26 if you want to use these F words. 24:28 Do you have finances? 24:30 If you really want real finance, put faith. 24:33 Faith. 24:35 I'm going to say something 24:37 and I'm going to share two quick things. 24:40 One, prayer is the key. It is. 24:43 Part of setting your budget up is prayer. 24:46 You know, my kids, my family, we were praying and said, 24:49 "Lord, we need this. 24:50 We need that." 24:52 And they would know that we're praying about it. 24:53 When it came time for us to get them back in the school 24:56 and the money's not there, let me tell you something, 24:59 I'm in my office, I'm praying, I said, "God, you know, 25:01 they've got to go back to school. 25:02 I'm finished with Andrews, 25:04 so I know there's no money nowhere." 25:05 God said, "Get up and go to Andrews University. 25:08 Go and look into your account." 25:10 That I've been out of Andrews for two years. 25:12 I looked into my account 25:13 and there was over $2, 000 sitting 25:14 in that account for me. 25:16 The lady said, it came from the government. 25:17 Who knows why, who knows... 25:19 I know it was God and God was able to move. 25:21 My wife just called me today 25:23 and said, "Oh, we got another blessing." 25:26 You know, I didn't expect it. 25:29 Someone called us and said, 25:30 "Oh, you wrote a course for us and we never paid you. 25:35 So here's $2,000." 25:37 It is because of prayer 25:38 and it's because of our faithfulness to God 25:42 and because we are responsible stewards 25:46 in budgeting, trying to live within our means, 25:48 and of course, you splurge a little bit, 25:50 but I think prayer is the key. 25:52 Yes, it is. Exactly. 25:53 I believe that. 25:54 Yeah, I think it's just the matter of understanding 25:56 that money comes and money goes, 25:59 but God is everlasting, you know, and it sounds... 26:02 To some people, it might sound redundant, like you, 26:05 praying Christians... 26:08 But to me, it's like, I believe it 26:09 because I've experienced it and that's one thing 26:11 that I think all three of us share in common 26:13 that we experience the burdens and hardships 26:17 of what it's like to earn a paycheck 26:19 and just see it, poof, go out the window. 26:22 And we've learned through our difficulties 26:24 and what it is like to budget, to be broke, 26:28 as society says, you know, defines it. 26:31 But even though, to the society, 26:34 we might seem like we're broke, to God, 26:37 we have riches, 26:39 we're about to walk on streets of gold. 26:40 Yes. Streets of gold. 26:43 And that's one thing I want to tell fathers 26:45 is the fact that, 26:47 you know, finances are never easy, 26:50 especially as a Dad, 26:52 there's always this burden of needing to provide anything 26:55 and everything to your kids, to have the best job, 26:58 the best paycheck, the best of everything. 27:02 Finances actually break up marriages, 27:04 that's one of the key factors of breaking our marriages. 27:07 So it's important that you learn for yourself, 27:11 not wait for anybody else to teach you, 27:13 but actually go and find the information 27:15 that you need to have the resources. 27:18 And fathers that are pastors of different churches, 27:21 set up programs in your churches 27:23 that can teach men, so they can teach their kids. 27:27 And even though we want to leave an inheritance 27:30 or some kind of money, 27:32 the best inheritance is the wisdom 27:34 that we can provide through our experiences 27:36 through our issues, 27:37 through the ordeals is that we've gone 27:39 through as fathers 27:40 on what it's like to really be broke, 27:43 to have nothing. 27:45 So I encourage you today to pray about everything. 27:49 Pray about your money and your finances, 27:52 pray about your children and help them to understand 27:55 that the ultimate supplier is God Himself. 27:58 I thank you for watching. 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Revised 2020-12-02