I (Stefanie) have always been responsible for paying bills, budgeting, and any other financial tasks since Chris and I got married. Every couple has one — the Scrooge-like spouse who sends texts that say, “Do NOT spend any more money until Friday” or “Why did you spend $22 at Burger King two days ago??” or “If you find a any change lying around you should probably go deposit it into our bank account.” Haha, okay, I’m exaggerating a little bit but you get the idea.
Since money is my department and I am sometimes practical to a fault, I was obviously concerned about our income when Chris started talking his crazy church planting talk. When he informed me that we would raise support for our income I had the strong impulse to vomit. I was worried. Raising support — so unstable, so uncertain — seemed like the end of the world to me. BUT I realized that I really needed to let go of the security that comes with a regular paycheck and trust that if God is leading us in this direction that He will provide for us on the journey.
And He has!
Just because I’m officially responsible for the fiscal aspects of our life doesn’t mean I’m particularly good at it. I haven’t balanced a checkbook since high school and usually only have a rough idea of how much money is in our bank account. But I think God has used my mediocre bookkeeping skills to our advantage because somehow money stays in our checking account even when it doesn’t make sense.
The monthly support commitments we’ve received add up to roughly half of what we need to live each month but somehow there’s always enough money to get by comfortably. In fact, I haven’t had to send a “Do NOT spend any more money until Friday!!” text since we started this church plant journey.
In an effort to insure that we had a full paycheck in December, we did not draw a paycheck from Heartland at the end of September and asked them to only pay us $2000 at the end of October. (Heartland is the non-profit organization that collects all of the support money in an account and then writes us a check out of that account. If the money is there, we get a check. If it’s not, we don’t.)
It doesn’t make sense. How could we live for two months only receiving one $2000 paycheck?? I do some part-time work for my Mother’s business but I certainly don’t make enough money to live on for a whole month. And it’s not like we didn’t eat during those months — we lived life as we normally do and every time I checked our bank account there was enough money. Enough. More than enough.
I told Chris that I’m going to start checking our account balance even less now so that I don’t accidentally catch God putting money into our account!
I’m really, really glad that we took this leap of faith and trusted God to provide for us because He is doing a much better job than we could. And this whole raising support thing?? Well, I guess I’m okay with it now. Paul did it and I love reading Philippians 4 in light of our current journey:
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.
At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.
We are so, so, SO thankful for everyone who has supported us both financially and in prayer over the past eight months — EIGHT MONTHS! Haha, sometimes I can’t believe we’ve survived that long! Many of you have committed to monthly support or have given us unexpected special gifts at just the moment that we needed it most. We pray that God will in turn supply all YOUR needs from his glorious riches.
We will continue to raise support during the preliminary phases of church planting and during the infant stages of a new church (so feel free to click on the Pray/Invest tab at the top of the page! haha!). Chris’ full-time residency at Cedar Ridge will wrap up in January and then he will be part-time there for a few more months. In January, he’ll start looking for a part-time job near our home so please put that on your prayer list. Also in January, we will begin having regular meetings in our home with a group of people who have expressed interest in being a part of our core church planting group. Prayers for these meetings would also be greatly appreciated!
So there you go!
Everyone always asks about money. Or if they aren’t brave enough to ask directly they ask a series of roundabout questions to find out how we’re doing financially. So this is a blog to answer those questions. We’re doing okay. We have enough and we can only credit God with getting us this far — and that’s a fantastic place to be. Fully dependent on God, enjoying each day, and not worrying about the future.
Matthew 6:26-33 That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
More than enough.
Merry Christmas from the Borkerts! We’re hoping to get Christmas cards out to everyone this year (but don’t hold your breath because I have that hope every year and it rarely happens!!).
****Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention and thank God for —
After insurance, our bill for Timber’s hospitalization in September was over six thousand dollars. I noticed on the Children’s Mercy Hospital website that you could apply for financial assistance from the hospital so I thought I would give it a shot, not expecting much. I assumed that they would knock a percentage off our bill but they recently sent a letter stating that they had covered 100% of Timber’s hospital bill AND what was left of Flora’s hospital bill that we had been making payments on since 2009! PRAISE GOD!
Church Plant Journey 