A lender not a borrower

Another very satisfying day. Now I don’t want to get all self-fulfilling prophecy, but I thought for sure God told me the next six weeks would be difficult. Now Im not wishing or hoping for the bad times. The week certainly started out challenging, but the last two days have been fantastic. Maybe it is a respite, or a test for me not to get too lazy. Now it is very important to me, that this blog is not perceived as egotistical nor tooting my own horn. I have a failed marriage, nearly a failed career that was resuscitated, and a strained relationship with my children, and many other inadequacies which I have mentioned in previous blog. I acknowledge my faults and try to be very real and transparent as that is what I believe Im called to do. So when I talk about my exploits, my intention is to not talk about how great “Rick” is. Rather its to show God’s faithfulness through a willing vessel. If God can come through for me an ordinary guy, surely he can come through for everybody. That is why I do detail the struggles and successes that I have.

When I was going through the heart of the divorce, I was left with a lot of debt, having to provide child support and pay for two households. This all happened when I was making $12/hour. The good part is, I was tithing regularly, even though my tithe was miniscule. Somehow, someway I was able to pay all my bills and never miss a support payment. It’s curious because later when I got the job at the Ad Agency, I was doubling my salary, and still having the same trouble paying all my bills. Sometimes finances are like the loaves and fishes, as long as you tithe, God will make a way. But this whole time, I remember hearing Joel Osteen say, almost on a weekly basis be a lender not a borrower, be above and not beneath, be the head and not the tail. At first I thought that was crazy talk. There is no way I’ll ever get out of debt and be a lender not a borrower. But I claimed it anyway, hoping the faith would come later.

Before Manu, our brilliant computer animator, ran off to get married. He wanted an advance. Not a company advance, but a personal loan from me. It was a significant amount. So I did have to think hard about it. I had Bene, our accountant draw up the papers. So Manu went off and got married. He was afraid he was going to have to elope, but her parents relented and agreed to the marriage. So he came back last week…and was so happy. He showed the office staff all the pictures and he was so proud and happy. Last Wednesday I had this most vivid dream. I don’t dream often, hardly at all. Usually when I do dream the memories and the details of it vanish within moments. But this dream was sticking with me. I guess it was so vivid it felt like a vision more than a dream. Im not sure what a vision feels like, but this certainly felt like one. I dreamt I was at Manu and his bride’s wedding reception. My job was to collect the money from the people that attended the wedding. So I went around to all the tables and collects from each person. I put a lot of pressure on people to pay a lot to honor the bride and groom. Then I took the spoils and showed them to Manu and his bride. They were so happy. So this dream just stayed with me. I felt very compelled that I should release Manu from his loan. Manu makes OK money compared to his co-workers, but compared to a westerner not a lot at all. I really sought God on this one, and every response I got, was the same, and that was to release him from the loan. So I called him into the office, and he was thrilled about it. But it was more a point to see that I was obedient, rather than make him happy. God was my total motivation here. Then, my good friend Fayad, lost his ATM card and his parents were away for the Eid holiday. He had no access to money for the next week. Now this one was a straight loan for him. I trust him to pay it back. Im not worried about it at all. But that got me to thinking. I have become a lender and not a borrower. How cool is that? I didn’t think it was possible a few years ago, yet here I am. God is faithful. If you follow his precepts all the blessings will track you down, pressed down, shaken together, running over. Once again Im a witness to God’s faithfulness.

The rest of the day was busy, went to church. I had lunch with Mr. Brooklyn, who came back after a two month hiatus. He invited me to his place for lunch. Then it was racquetball with Ivan on the base. The navy store, has real diet coke, not this Coke light stuff. So I had to get two cases while I was there. Im very happy about that. Then I had dinner and played Darren squash. Squash and racquetball on the same day, was a challenge. Darren and sat by the pool at the British club and had a drink and chatted afterward. Then it was off to another party, this time at my friend Tom’s house. I sure am getting to meet a lot more people. It was a very good day.