Financial Stability Is Possible

George and Melisa Arroyo were like many who relied on credit cards to help with their living expenses.  

George recalls, “We had 56 credit cards.  We used one to give to the other.”

Melisa shares, “The children needed clothes, the children needed food.  We needed to pay for the electricity. We needed to pay for our rent.”

George and Melisa both worked as teachers in the school system. Stretching the money on their salaries was tough. The monthly payments on their credit cards became nearly impossible to pay.

George remembers, “It would take us almost a year to even pay down a little bit.  We paid forever.”

Within four years, their 56 credit cards had a combined debt load of $50,000. With no means to pay them off, they declared bankruptcy.

George shares, “It was hard for me as a man, because I felt like I had failed.”

Melisa says, “I believe that our lack of obedience to God in tithing cost us to slip all the way to the bottom when we had to declare bankruptcy.”

In the middle of their financial difficulty, they went through a very tough time when Melisa was diagnosed with cancer.

Melisa remembers, “My first thoughts that my life was over, that my children were going to have to graduate without me, that my husband was going to have to live his life without me.”

George shares, “It's like you going 100 miles an hour with your car and making a screeching stop.  Life stopped right there.”

Melisa was facing eight months in the hospital to undergo aggressive chemotherapy and blood transfusions. She and George continued to pray and believe God for the best. George and Melisa were now putting God first in every area of their lives, including their finances.  

George says, “You look up to the sky and you say, ‘You know what?  Lord, it's yours.  It's yours.  My wife is yours.  My money's yours.  My life is yours.  We need to give it all to you.’”

Melisa says, “I always knew in the back of my mind if I'm really walking with the God and trusting him, why am I not giving him the full tithe that he asked me for?”

The couple tithed faithfully, even after Melisa had to take a leave of absence from work. They believe God honored their obedience through unexpected gifts from others.

Melisa recalls, “There were sometimes money orders and cash in the mail and cards and we didn’t really know who had sent them. But we were blessed abundantly.”

Encouraged by what God was doing, they decided to do more, and started giving to CBN. Then, a month after treatment ended, Melisa went back to the doctor and learned she was in complete remission and has been for twelve years.

Melisa shares, “I could not help but thank Him, every single moment of my life.  In fact, I still do.  I cannot believe that He saw me through such a hard time.”

George and Melisa have seen God’s faithfulness to their obedience to be good stewards over their money. George even received his dream job as director of coaching at the Futbol soccer club in Tampa.

George says, “And that was the Lord. And He's provided us with more money, more blessings.”

Since then, they increased their giving to CBN. They say their current financial stability is the result of their obedience to give.

Melisa says, “God is a good father.  So when He gives us principles and guidelines to live by, He wants the best for us.  He wants to give us a hope and a future.”

George says, “Give abundantly, give graciously, give cheerfully because it's His.  And God loves you and when you do that it shows your obedience to Him, and that's what He wants to see.”