Couple Overcomes Nearly $250K of Debt
As a young married couple, Dwight and Ashley Sanders carried student loan and credit card debt of nearly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Dwight worked as an engineer and Ashley, a nurse. Despite their debt they committed to tithing and giving generously.
Dwight said, “At the time I was thinking, ‘What would it look like to have that trust relationship with God where you could do that and know that he's got you?’”
Three years later, Ashley was expecting twins. Unfortunately, one child died in utero. She delivered their surviving son, Levi who was born with low blood platelets requiring multiple bone marrow transplants. To make matters worse, Dwight’s entire department was downsized.
“I'd lost my job, which included insurance," said Dwight, “I'm like, ‘What more could possibly happen?’ So I was at an extreme low.”
For Ashley, the burden of a sick child and questions of how they would pay their bills brought continual stress.
“It consumes your whole mind and–I just remember at that season there was constant calling, I mean, you're constantly calling insurance companies, hospitals, clinics, fighting and I was just tired.”
That’s when the couple asked God for help.
Ashley said, “We cried together and then we both said, ‘God has us. He's our provider, not anyone else.’"
Levi’s bone marrow transplants were costly and the Sanders’ had no way to pay. Still, they continued to tithe from Dwight’s severance pay.
“Money in God's Kingdom is the opposite of what we think it should be," said Dwight, “So you tithe first, even though it doesn't make sense, even though you can't make ends meet and God will let you make your ends meet. God says, ‘Test me in this. Do it. Try it and see what happens.’"
Ashley said, “I turned around and looked at Dwight, I said, ‘Dwight, I have no idea how we are going to pay this off.’ And I just laid my hands on the–on the stack and I said, 'God, I don't know how it's going to happen, but You do. You are our Provider and we trust in You."
“Even through that season of hardship we were used to that generosity," said Dwight, “And maybe at that point I had just built up a trust level that i kind of knew God would provide. I mean, we wondered ‘How are we going to pay these bills?’ But every single time we would get a bill and someone would send a check, you know, or something would happen and we just were always able to pay the bills. So it was just an incredible blessing.”
And the blessings continued. In 2018, family, friends, and even strangers raised enough to nearly cover all of Levi’s hospital bills.
Ashley said, “We walked in our church, somebody would hand us cash, someone would hand us a check, someone would hand us a bag of coins and dollars that they've collected for our family. Like I’d bawl just, and I’m like ‘God, how could You prompt so many people to provide our every need?’"
Just a few months after losing his job, Dwight received good news.
“Dwight got a call, that never happens”, said Ashley, “like, you look for jobs usually, but this job sought Dwight, same job but working from home and getting paid more."
Dwight’s new engineering job nearly doubled the salary of his previous employer and in 2020, he received another twelve percent increase. Other than their mortgage, the Sanders’ were now able to pay off their entire debt.
Dwight said, “You might wonder ‘Is this coincidence?’ But over time when you just see instance after instance, you know that it has to be God. There's no room for doubt in my mind that not only God exists, but that is God's hand actively and directly.”
Today the Sanders are still praying for Levi’s complete health and the family added Davi in 2020. Dwight and Ashley are thankful to God for meeting their financial needs.
“Scripture says that where our treasure is, there our heart will be. Just having the freedom to not worry about that,” said Dwight “just knowing that He's got it is just an incredible blessing that money could not buy.”
