Last weekend my husband and I gave our testimony as a part of the With ONE Heart
Capital Campaign here at Calvary. Below is our testimony.
Eric: Hi, I am Eric. Many of you may not have yet met me because I prefer to not be in the spotlight. And my work with the Indy Racing League, 8 months of the year keeps me away from weekend worship.
Michelle: Hi, I am Michelle, Eric’s wife, the Mrs. Reverend Knight. We want to share with you our story of living generously.
Eric: After getting married, Michelle insisted that we give to the church. My idea of giving was putting a $20 bill in the plate when I did go to church... And when I didn't go to church, I thought I was off the hook for that week. I had debt.A lot of debt, and that was my priority.
Michelle: Our giving wasn’t what God asks of us because we had this thing called ‘debt’. We had credit card debt, car debt, student loan debt, and our mortgage. All totaled at the time it was $ 71,564. Throughout these years we struggled to discern how to live God’s way. We knew our debt was holding us back from living generously. We also were beginning to realize that our spending habits and lifestyle were negatively impacting our ability to honor all the blessings God has placed in our lives. God has blessed us tremendously- we each have unique abilities and contributions to share in our community. We are blessed with education, family, health, and wonderful Christian friends.
Eric: Now, well before we had started with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, we had already started our debt reduction plan. When we started Dave's class, we had already paid off all of our credit cards and car loans, and it only took 7 years and 2 months to do it. However, we still had the remainder of my student loan, and at that time, it had a balance of almost $30,000 remaining.
Michelle: Eric and I were s-l-o-w-l-y becoming united in our goals and finances. Bill paying nights were filled with arguments, anxiety, frustration, and agitation. Our vision of being debt free except for a house payment seemed like a far off distance place we’d never get to. We fussed and squabbled with each other and continued to wrestle with what God’s portion of our income needed to be. It took doing the Financial Peace University class together, reading the materials, and hammering out a working family budget that we both agreed to in order for our financial life to grow.
Eric: One of our first decisions in the budget planning was about our giving to Calvary. It is listed first before we set anything else. And even though for the last 18 months, we have been crazy intense about paying off our debt, giving to Calvary has remained #1. Not because Michelle is a pastor, but because we have learned the blessing of living generously. God expects us to honor him. Our money and our assets isn't ours anyway. It's all God's anyway.
Michelle: Since we started FPU class in January of 2008, we have paid off $29,248. As of September of this year, we are now totally debt free (with the exception of our house.) We have no credit cards, we live within our means. Our families and friends think we are weird. We do not go out to eat (but every two months). We have not had a family vacation since 2005 (our trips in 2006 were paid for by the Lilly Renewal Grant). We have used cars (they are paid for). We do not have cable. We shop for deals and every budget category has an envelope. Nothing is bought on credit because we do no worship at the altar of a FICA score anymore. We honor God for what God has placed into our hands.
Eric: We're debt free, and THAT is a great feeling. We are no longer beholden to man. At anytime, if I feel my work compromises my morals, I can walk away and not worry about how we can make ends meet. That is a powerful feeling. It gives you confidence in ways you never
imagined. I'm proud that we accomplished this debt reduction while giving
generously to our church. Now, our tithe to Calvary is a full tithe. We do 10% of our GROSS income. In the last year, I have been hounded by this voice in my head to give of our first fruits. If I can give more than 20% of my gross income to the government and all that Change, I can certainly feel good about giving 10% to the church.
Michelle: Next weekend you will be asked to give your pledge to our capital campaign called With One Heart. Eric and I have already prayed and talked about our gift. We are now praying for you. If you are struggling in your family finances- remember we will have another FPU class this January. There are lots of tools around to help you learn how to manage the blessing of income God has given you.
Eric: On November 22 we will be asked to give our First Fruits offering towards the With One Heart campaign. Michelle and I have our gift ready. Our only request because of our experience with debt is that our gift be used towards reducing the debt of our church mortgage. We want our church family to know what financial freedom is all about.
Michelle: Imagine what we could do as a church if we had no debt. Out $20,000 month mortgage could go to missions, ministry- you name it. Imagine the financial freedom we would have With ONE Heart!
Michelle: Hi, I am Michelle, Eric’s wife, the Mrs. Reverend Knight. We want to share with you our story of living generously.
Eric: After getting married, Michelle insisted that we give to the church. My idea of giving was putting a $20 bill in the plate when I did go to church... And when I didn't go to church, I thought I was off the hook for that week. I had debt.A lot of debt, and that was my priority.
Michelle: Our giving wasn’t what God asks of us because we had this thing called ‘debt’. We had credit card debt, car debt, student loan debt, and our mortgage. All totaled at the time it was $ 71,564. Throughout these years we struggled to discern how to live God’s way. We knew our debt was holding us back from living generously. We also were beginning to realize that our spending habits and lifestyle were negatively impacting our ability to honor all the blessings God has placed in our lives. God has blessed us tremendously- we each have unique abilities and contributions to share in our community. We are blessed with education, family, health, and wonderful Christian friends.
Eric: Now, well before we had started with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, we had already started our debt reduction plan. When we started Dave's class, we had already paid off all of our credit cards and car loans, and it only took 7 years and 2 months to do it. However, we still had the remainder of my student loan, and at that time, it had a balance of almost $30,000 remaining.
Michelle: Eric and I were s-l-o-w-l-y becoming united in our goals and finances. Bill paying nights were filled with arguments, anxiety, frustration, and agitation. Our vision of being debt free except for a house payment seemed like a far off distance place we’d never get to. We fussed and squabbled with each other and continued to wrestle with what God’s portion of our income needed to be. It took doing the Financial Peace University class together, reading the materials, and hammering out a working family budget that we both agreed to in order for our financial life to grow.
Eric: One of our first decisions in the budget planning was about our giving to Calvary. It is listed first before we set anything else. And even though for the last 18 months, we have been crazy intense about paying off our debt, giving to Calvary has remained #1. Not because Michelle is a pastor, but because we have learned the blessing of living generously. God expects us to honor him. Our money and our assets isn't ours anyway. It's all God's anyway.
Michelle: Since we started FPU class in January of 2008, we have paid off $29,248. As of September of this year, we are now totally debt free (with the exception of our house.) We have no credit cards, we live within our means. Our families and friends think we are weird. We do not go out to eat (but every two months). We have not had a family vacation since 2005 (our trips in 2006 were paid for by the Lilly Renewal Grant). We have used cars (they are paid for). We do not have cable. We shop for deals and every budget category has an envelope. Nothing is bought on credit because we do no worship at the altar of a FICA score anymore. We honor God for what God has placed into our hands.
Eric: We're debt free, and THAT is a great feeling. We are no longer beholden to man. At anytime, if I feel my work compromises my morals, I can walk away and not worry about how we can make ends meet. That is a powerful feeling. It gives you confidence in ways you never
imagined. I'm proud that we accomplished this debt reduction while giving
generously to our church. Now, our tithe to Calvary is a full tithe. We do 10% of our GROSS income. In the last year, I have been hounded by this voice in my head to give of our first fruits. If I can give more than 20% of my gross income to the government and all that Change, I can certainly feel good about giving 10% to the church.
Michelle: Next weekend you will be asked to give your pledge to our capital campaign called With One Heart. Eric and I have already prayed and talked about our gift. We are now praying for you. If you are struggling in your family finances- remember we will have another FPU class this January. There are lots of tools around to help you learn how to manage the blessing of income God has given you.
Eric: On November 22 we will be asked to give our First Fruits offering towards the With One Heart campaign. Michelle and I have our gift ready. Our only request because of our experience with debt is that our gift be used towards reducing the debt of our church mortgage. We want our church family to know what financial freedom is all about.
Michelle: Imagine what we could do as a church if we had no debt. Out $20,000 month mortgage could go to missions, ministry- you name it. Imagine the financial freedom we would have With ONE Heart!
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