About a month ago we learned of an awesome opportunity our church had to purchase the land we’ve been renting. One of my favorite things about our church leadership team is they don’t personally ‘ask’ for money. They show us the vision, educate us on the resources needed to accomplish said vision, ask us to talk to God about what our role in the vision should be, then recommend we be obedient to His guidance. Not rocket science. Talk to God, do what He says. For married couples, they provide the added guidance of seeking a number separately and then revealing to each other as a sort of confirmation that what you are hearing is from God…. Given the God’s not in the business of dividing a household, chances are good they’d be close.
After the vision was laid out by our Pastor, I felt like I knew our number. I didn’t necessarily LIKE our number, but I knew it. Each subsequent week after service, I would ask Kevin if he had a number. He didn’t. Finally this past Friday, with the miracle offering taking place on Sunday, I pushed a bit harder. Kev’s response was he hadn’t gotten anything, and he was of the mindset we take the year off, we contributed last year, and throughout the year, we could sit this one out. I gently reminded him of all our blessings, and that I thought we should, and he asked if I had a number. Sensing the overall resistance to the concept at the outset, I cut my original number in half to avoid shocking his system completely. He appeared to hold his position.
I was confused. Why would God give me a number and not Kevin? Part of me was relieved, my job is to support Kevin, if he hadn’t gotten anything maybe I’d heard wrong and we did get to sit this one out. So I told God, I was supporting Kevin, and if the number was meant to be the same, He had to get Kevin there on His own…. I wasn’t starting a fight over this.
Saturday Kev asked if I would mind watching the boys so he could have some quiet time and get some stuff done. Sunday on the drive to church, he asked in a nonchalant way about some of our savings. I said, “Babe, you fill out the envelope, whatever you feel like giving we’ll give, if its nothing that’s fine too. If you wouldn’t mind though before dropping it in, just give me a glimpse so I know where we’re at.” He said that sounded good to him and we left it at that.
Service was great as usual. We got to see an even more detailed mock drawing of what the renovated building could look like if we’re able to secure the property, and the excitement in the room was palpable. We’d just come off a 24hr praise/worship night with people praying for the vision and the offering, and the room was quite literally buzzing with energy. We got to the end, the band went up for a song to give people time to pray one last time, fill out their envelopes, and turn them in.
Kev filled ours out. Just before sealing it up, he slid it over to me. The number was the EXACT same number I’d felt when I’d asked God almost FOUR weeks earlier. Not the ‘half’ number I had shared with Kevin on the Friday, I’d never voiced the original one to him, and yet there it sat on the paper, staring me in the face.
I couldn’t even contain the smile on my face the rest of the afternoon. I hadn’t liked the number much before, but I LOVED it now. I couldn’t have been more excited to do our part, knowing in FULL faith that it was exactly what we were supposed to do. I can’t wait to see all the ways God is going to use it to change the course of our church’s history and the future for my little family because of one step of obedience to Him!