More Than Just Making It: Hope for the Heart of the Financially Frustrated by Erin Odom

Author:Erin Odom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: religion, memoirs, finance
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

IT’S NOT EASY TO ASK

As I was conducting interviews for this book, a pattern among women of my generation became clear. We don’t like to ask for help.

The Riccis, our Canadian friends whom I introduced in chapter 3, were accustomed to blessing others financially before they ran into financial trouble themselves. In fact, during a three-month missionary stint in Tanzania when they were newlyweds, they met a young man they ended up supporting through his first year of college.

“We gave him our savings,” Beth said. “$4,000.”

But when it came to their own financial needs, they felt ashamed. The Canadian government subsidizes all families with children, and the lower the income, the more aid the family receives, Beth explained. But in their most desperate moments, even this wasn’t enough. Embarrassed to share their situation with family and friends, the Riccis secretly secured groceries at a food bank on two separate occasions. Beth described the time as both “humiliating and frustrating.”

Eventually the Riccis realized their loved ones wanted to help. After confiding in their close friends, someone brought them bananas and diapers. Another anonymous person left $100 in an envelope on their porch. Beth now sees that time in their lives as faith-building, her personal manna in a wilderness season.

“We knew God cared about the very smallest and tangible needs in our lives,” she said. “Those needs weren’t always met how we expected, but they were always met in the end.”

Many of the families I interviewed entered their season of financial struggle feeling ashamed to ask for help, but once they did, they experienced the blessing of God’s provision in a way they might not have experienced if they had remained quiet. Delilah, one of my readers who is a stay-at-home mom in North Carolina, has watched her family face financial hardship for more than eight years now. She believes they wouldn’t have made it without the help of others. “Find encouragement and support,” she said. “Don’t be ashamed and try to do it alone.”

When our friends Mike and Megan returned to the United States after serving as international missionaries for three years, they found it difficult to secure employment. The couple decided to selectively share their needs with friends and family. “It’s a very humbling place to be,” Megan said. She encourages those in crisis to be open with others. “Be transparent with those who care about you, work hard at whatever is put in front of you, and ask for help.”

Our friends Austin and Keelie, who live in Texas, have witnessed God’s provision for their family and countless others, as they struggled on a low income while Austin worked as a pastor and Keelie helped run a food pantry. “We were trying to sell our old house, so we were paying two house payments for about a year,” Austin said. “It got tough. We ate a lot of beans and rice that year. We got to a point where we could’ve used some of those bags of food that Keelie

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