When Life Doesn't Compute

It has been called a technology gold rush. In the late 1990s the dot-com industry was at its peek. Investors poured up to 30 billion dollars a year into start-up companies. But in 2000 the dot-com bubble burst, leaving tens of thousands unemployed. And Cary Sholer was one of them. Cary went from corporate executive to unemployed in the blink of an eye when his dot-com start-up company went under. “It was unbelievably difficult. I went for three months without finding any employment. I couldn’t find anyone to interview me! There were 3,000 to 6,000 applicants for every job I applied for, and I wasn’t even getting in the door,” Cary explains. His unemployment check didn’t come close to paying the bills. He relied on credit, hoping it wouldn’t get out of hand before he found a job. But Cary was running out of time. His wife, Ann, knew it, too. “Nothing is happening and there is no income coming in. It’s a total feeling of despair,” Ann remembers. Ann began to pray and ask God to tell her what they were doing wrong. “He answered that prayer. He did search me and said, ‘By the way, you say that you were tithing during all that time, but there were times that it wasn’t quite 10 percent,’” Ann recalls. “It stung to my core, because I was raised in the house of givers and we always considered ourselves givers. And we were givers! But not like it says in the Bible, that the first fruits go to the Lord and the tenth belongs to the Lord.” Ann told Cary she wanted to tithe on his unemployment check. “My first thought was, are you crazy! That means we’ll go in debt more. Why do you want to do this?” Cary remembers thinking. “But it was certainly something I thought, well, if the Lord is talking to her and putting this on her heart, let’s try it. Let’s see what happens.” “We gave at any cost. We gave when there wasn’t anything to give,” Ann says. “We upped our commitment to CBN at that point when we had nothing coming in, because I had heard Pat talk on The 700 Club, and I’d heard it before, but I needed to hear it again: ‘If you are in need, then you give.’ ” The Sholers then felt God telling them to increase their giving to CBN…again. Notes Ann, “Each one of us prayed independently of each other as to what He wanted us to give. He gave us a figure, and it was like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure, God, that’s exactly the figure You want us to give?’ Cary verified it and we said OK. Mind you, we have no income coming in.” Ann made the pledge, and a short time later Cary was approached by a friend from church who worked for a successful technology company. “He says, ‘I want you to come to work with me at the same company. I’ll get you an interview. Don’t worry about a thing.’ He pre-screened me. He got me in,” Cary explains. Cary got the job as a computer technology consultant. With his salary, the Sholers have paid off their credit cards and can easily pay the bills and give generously to several ministries - including CBN. “Just trust God. We don’t always understand what He is trying to tell us, but we have to believe what He is telling us. We have to trust Him and continue to go by His Word that He is faithful, that He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do,” concludes Ann. The Sholers saw the rewards of applying the Law of Reciprocity -- "Give and it shall be given to you" -- by giving to CBN. Here is your chance to give to the Lord and see your dollars bring truth to hurting people, feed and clothe needy children, keep The 700 Club Prayer Counseling Center phone lines operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provide medical care to those who need a tangible touch of God's love. Become a CBN partner today!