I decided to participate in the church-wide prayer and fasting this year. When Pastor Stovall asked us to submit a prayer request for 2008, I wrote down that I would love to have another baby with my husband before I turned 30 (in December).

At the same time that I started fasting and praying, I also started to tithe regularly; not just when I thought I could or had some extra money to give.

God is so good! I just found out that I’m pregnant!

Plus, our medical insurance was supposed to be effective as of February, but we got a letter stating that our insurance is valid as of January!!

I just know that these things are all God and that He hears even the smallest desires of our hearts.

I believe that we go through situations sometimes just so God can show how He can move and orchestrate our lives. I’ve gone through several of these situations.

I bought my first home a year ago, and I felt a total peace about it. Everything really came into play pretty smoothly. I was able to get a good, fixed rate with just a good credit score and nothing down. I broke my apartment complex and miraculously after a month and half of waiting and calling, they found someone to move in that January 2nd where I didn’t owe an extra penny.

I couldn’t believe it.

I closed Dec. 20th of 2006. Three weeks later I was laid off from my job with the home builder I worked for. I think I cried on the way home and then just resolved to look for a new job starting that day. I pretty much thought that God brought me to buy my new home with so much coming into place that this just had to work out.

Let me also point out that I never did stop tithing. I remember tithing on my severance check with almost a laugh of humor verses despair. I continued to tithe on my small, part-time job checks as well. On a side note , I made a resolution to fully tithe during one of my stints of being without a job several years ago while listening to Pastor Stovall at UNF.

In a nutshell, I was out of a full time job for almost three months; I spent a lot of that time praying and reading the Word, just believing for God to work it out. Philippians 3 and 4 on perseverance and contentment. Hebrews 11 and 12 on faith. Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 29 on His plan for us.

Through it all, I used any checks to just pay bills and every bill, including my new mortgage, was paid on time. I didn’t have anything in savings beforehand either, but different things came into play including a bigger tax check than expected. (Apparently, I paid points on my mortgage which got me a higher return than otherwise would. I didn’t remember the mortgage consultant telling me about paying points at all, but in the end I was thankful for them.)

I now have a job that has a $9,000 higher base salary than my previous one, plus commissions.

With the past year in the market, looking back I am thankful for the lay off when it was. Also with the way my taxes have gone up $300 since closing, there is no way I would have been able to afford the home with my previous job.

Sometimes when my job stresses me too much, I have to remember to be thankful for the job and paycheck that He gave me.

One last note, a few months ago after my roommate told me she was moving out, I was thinking how much harder it is being single supporting myself. Then God spoke to me stating that I am not alone; that He is there supporting me as my provider more than any husband could do. I suddenly had tears feeling His comfort and peace.

God brings us through times to encourage others and show His glory as well as encourage ourselves in the future.

My husband Paul retired from the military. A stressful time made worse by the fact he had not secured a job yet. I just transitioned from a full time job making pretty good money to a job allowing me to be at home with my kids after school.

But that meant a lot less money.

He finally got a job with a nice company. It meant he had to drive to Altamonte Springs on a daily basis. He was out of town often which was stressful for us after having him always with us.

One day while loading some boxes at his work he felt a pulling sensation and pain in his arm. He went to the doctor and after several tests they confirmed that he had torn two tendons completely from his shoulder and surgery would be necessary.

He had the surgery, but while recovering his company decided to relieve him. He had several months of healing and rehabilitation to go through and knowing that he had no job to go back to made that recovery hard.

Through the next few moths he recovered and looked for a job with no luck.

Then one day he said he wanted to start his own painting company. It was something he did with his father as a side job throughout his military career.

We prayed to God for guidance and were given full peace that this is something he should do. When the economy started to fall the company did too.

Once again we had no money but my very small check. We tithed all through the experience that we had.

Months later it has gotten so hard that they are coming to take back the truck, our phone is being turned off and we are very far behind in mortgage. My sister has asked me if money is so hard why you still give at church.

I always say because it is not our money to keep.

Paul and I decided to do the 21 days of prayer and fast together. For me, it is a true test in my faith because I cook professionally. We pray together and get in his word be it in the car, on the computer and before bed.

Wednesday night we went to service for the first day of the fast. I felt such a release and peace.

My husband received a call from UPS requesting an interview. Then he went online and a request for an interview was sent to him for a local train company.

Then he received another phone call that a job he had wanted 2 years earlier (right before he retired) had been going through resumes and was giving his to the director for review. They called him in for his interview and we are waiting for a call back. This is a job he did for 20 years in the military. Something he loves.

God is truly amazing.

One day I remember brushing my hair and God spoke to me and said, “You lack faith in me because you worry too much.”

I have since put everything at his feet. All my hopes, fears and worries.

I know the Holy Spirit has entered me and that I am walking closer with God. I know He will meet all our needs.

On November 1st, my husband lost his job due to budget cuts at his company. With only two weeks severance pay, we were relying solely on my income to get us through.

Shortly following the job loss, Pastor Stovall had a heart-to-heart with the congregation regarding tithing, how it works and the needs of the church. He said that supernatural stuff happens when you step out in faith and put God first in your finances.

At the end, Pastor Kerri held a dime over her head and asked if ten cents on every dollar was what was separating you from God. Wow, did she have my number! With tears pouring down my face, I wrote a check for a full tithe - an amount that frankly, would prevent us from paying other bills and would surely cause us to come up short at the end of the month.

You know what? We never came up short.

As we continued to tithe on every dollar that came in the door, we continued to be provided for financially. We never had to touch our savings account and Santa was able to provide abundantly for our two little boys during the Christmas season.

We wanted desperately to draw closer to God and we saw the 21 days of prayer and fasting as an opportunity we simply could not pass up.

We committed to the full 21 days and have been praying faithfully and attending all of the corresponding services.

Well, yesterday, on the seventh day of the fast, my husband had a job interview in an industry he really wanted to work in and also one that is very tough to break into. And after interviewing yesterday afternoon, he got the job offer last night.

Not only is it the job he wanted, it is the salary we desired and the growth opportunity he needs. It also includes a company car, so we can now sell one of our cars to save on one of our car payments, insurance and gas!

PRAISE GOD!!!

We are blessed to even have the opportunity to give. We have surrendered our finances to God and have committed to always put him first, especially in this area of our lives.

If you are thinking you can’t do it or you won’t make it, just try one time. Give God 10%. God will reward your faith.

Trust in Him, the Almighty.

Father, we thank You for the chance to give and we are so grateful for the opportunity to draw closer to you through fasting, Lord.

We know this is just the beginning.

With eyes wide open!

I started the 21 day fast last Wednesday.

That night when I went to bed, God woke me up and I was a little “aggravated” as I don’t like to get woken up. I pretty much just was like “What do you want, let’s cut to the chase.”

I felt a drawing to my dresser drawer and for me to open it up and look for something. I did it, but thought to myself, “This is stupid, there isn’t anything in here. I will go get my Bible instead.” But I still felt like the drawer was where I needed to look.

This was around 3:00 a.m.

I looked through papers and then flipped to one in particular. On the back was an address of someone from another state so that I could keep in contact. On the other side was a flyer from their church.

But at the bottom was a phrase that hit me like a ton of bricks.

It said, “Forgiveness means the person who hurt you doesn’t have to pay.”

I know what God wanted from me. I had been holding unforgiveness towards someone for over 2 years and it was time to let it go and be free. I thought I was holding them in a prison, when in reality I was the one in the prison.

I was woken up again last night at the same time. I emailed the person but don’t know if they will ever read it or ever see it. I hope so as I lost contact with that person a long time ago. I emailed them what I had been feeling and gave them the saying from the paper and also quoted them a line in The Lord of the Rings.

Theoden [recovering from imprisonment by a spell]: Gandalf.
Gandalf: Breathe the free air again, my friend.

It is nice to know that I am no longer in that prison and that it’s not that big a deal anymore.

Unforgiveness is truly a prison in which people need to be set free from. It is hard to deal with but I die daily to this and will need to remind myself. It is great what God is doing.

Also, my family is struggling this month financially wondering whether or not we would make ends meet because my wife is injured and out of work. We had already decided we were going to tithe no matter what starting in January. Of course, we didn’t know “no matter what” would be like this. I was really wondering how it would work, but it has worked so far and we have been able to make it. We will trust God to make it the rest of the month and the rest of the year.

Can’t wait to see what happens next . . .

Sometimes it only takes a day . . .

Testimony via Connection Card

Praise report! The day after the 2007 fast began, I got an unexpected bonus of $4000! I can’t pay my bills every month, but I am tithing anyways; now on my gross income and on every increase.

Last week, I tithed on my birthday money, decided to fast all 21 days and put my upcoming 2008 bonus towards my $2500 credit card debt. I expected a bonus between $1000 and $2000 because the company is in financial trouble. Today, on the 1st day of fast, I got a $4828 bonus!!! Enough to tithe 10% and pay of all my credit card debt!!

Praise God.

New job/finances are on my list for the fast.

Testimony via Website

I decided to commit to 21 days of fasting (fruits and veggies) to get closer to God, learn true self discipline and obedience (never a great trait of mine) and to experience the true meaning of prayer.

My husband and I have been beat up financially in the past two years because of a layoff that cut our income in half and myself having to stop working to deal with some medical issues. Before this occurred, after years of struggling financially, we had finally made the income to support the lifestyle we were living and bought our first home which to us was our dream home.

For at least six months, I have spent hours and hours on the phone doing anything I could to keep our house from going into foreclosure. Every time everything seemed like it was completed and we were out of the red, we hit another obstacle.

We were down to the wire and our home was in foreclosure with one possible hope left to save our home.

Yesterday, I spent three hours on the phone with the mortgage company only to find out the only way to save the house was to pay them $1200 by Friday. At this point, there was no way we could come up with money.

I hung up the phone and tried not to break down, but with tears falling off my face, I lay on my bed and wept and prayed for God to take this burden from me and keep me strong and in his Word.

I had no more energy left to fight anymore.

I was planning on coming to service and at first thought there was no way I could go with my red, puffy eyes and feeling like a time bomb waiting to explode into a break down.

As soon as that thought came to mind I released it and told myself that there was no way the devil was going to keep me from service tonight. I fixed up my face, picked my son up from the skate park and experienced preaching like no other (maybe even better than my buddy Joyce Meyer) and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit within me.

When I returned home there was a message from the mortgage company to call them; they had good news. Today, we found out we do not owe any extra funds and our home is coming out of foreclosure!

Praise God!!!!

This is from only one day of fasting and prayer. I believe God will move mountains in the days to come!!!!