Get Out of Your Financial Rut!

Jonathan and Lauren Holtzclaw cherish their time together as a family. You see, Jonathan works offshore as a commercial diver and is away for weeks or even months at a time. Back at home, Lauren handles all the bills. They were living paycheck to paycheck, so when jobs slacked off for nearly six months, they lost almost everything. They still wanted to give to their church, but couldn’t. Lauren recalls, “At that point I was only tithing when it was comfortable to do so.” “When there’s no money and you’re supporting a family, it’s easy to forget about tithing,” says Jonathan. He worked as often as he could, but an industry-wide slump meant the jobs just weren’t there. Jonathan says, “When it first started out, I felt like I was stuck in the mud. I wasn’t making any forward progress. If anything I was sinking lower and lower and lower.” The bills kept piling up, until all Lauren could do was pray. Lauren says, “I wanted to cry out to God to help our finances, but at the same time I felt, who am I to ask for your help with my finances, God, when I’m not being obedient to giving you the 10 percent that already belongs to you?” Lauren started tithing to her church, and felt lead by God to make an additional offering to The 700 Club. “And so I joined as a Gold Member,” says Lauren. Jonathan supported Lauren’s decisions all the way. “What we’re doing is giving God back what’s due Him,” says Jonathan, “but it really is a leap of faith when you have no money.” But Lauren counted on a Biblical promise from God about tithing. Lauren says, “Which is amazing, for God to say, ‘Test me in this. I will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it.’ God, that’s the kind of blessing we need.” The family finances quickly turned around. Lauren says, “Jonathan’s work started to increase and improve. Things were still tight, but some pressure started to be released.” A steady flow of offshore work kept coming, thanks to a better diving job with a different company. “The insurance benefits improved to such where we’re saving $500 a month,” says Lauren. But the blessings didn’t stop there. Though they had tried to refinance their home twice, their third effort succeeded. “We didn’t have to pay for the refinancing, and we’re paying $400 less a month than we were originally,” says Jonathan. So besides getting the steady work they prayed for, they got $900 more per month that they didn’t even see coming. “We are in overflow,” says Lauren. Jonathan concurs, “I could hear it in her voice when I called her from offshore. It made me feel so much better knowing that things were getting better.” Jonathan and Lauren say through the good times, and the bad, they’ve learned a lot about God. “You can’t reap without sowing,” says Jonathan. “And that’s a lesson we had to re-teach ourselves.” Lauren says, “God just wants to bless you. He just wants to pour out over your life and your finances and make a way for you where there seems to be no way. We stood on that and it has worked for us. His rules that He sets up for us are only for our benefit. He doesn’t want to hurt us or harm us or take away from us. He only wants to give to us.” God wants to bless you too, just as He has blessed the Holtzclaws for their faithfulness. One way you can give to God’s work is through CBN. Not only will you reach thousands each day with a message of truth and hope through The 700 Club, you will also help feed and clothe children around the world, bring medical aid to those suffering and so much more. Please join with us today.