How Faith Changes Your Money Mindset: Gratitude, Generosity & Parenting | Podcastathon | 106

All right, so today is an extra special episode. This is the podcast, a Thon episode where podcasters from all over the world, we get an opportunity to highlight a charitable organization that's super important to us and we release all the episodes the same week. And so I'm super excited because I have one of my former colleagues, but also one of our dear family friends on the show today to talk about a organization that's very dear to my heart and his as well. So I have my friend Bart Lesko from West Sound Youth for Christ on the show today.

So Bart, I'm so glad that you're here. Thank you so much for being a part of this very special episode. Well, thanks for having me. I, I really appreciate the time. I really appreciate the international audience to talk about what we're, what we're both passionate about and what we're both involved in. So one reason why I wanted to highlight you got, you know, West on YC specifically one, I used to be on staff there. And so some people, if you've been listening to the show for a while, you hear me talk a little bit about the youth that I used to work with.

But the thing that's really important, especially in my money journey, but also this is where a big part comes in with charitable organizations and why it's so important to give to charitable organizations. Not only does it change us as the giver, but it creates opportunities for those organizations, those ministries to get involved in the the the mission or the task at hand for themselves. Westside YFC is all about helping youth in our local area, but it is a nationwide and international movement, right Bart?

Yeah, we have. It's been around since shoot the 1940s. And so it's we've expanded, they started off here in the United States and expanded out. Now there's there's two separate organizations, but they really are kind of sister organizations, FC International and then YFC America, YFC USA. And so we're part of as a chapter, we're independent in the sense that we have our own board, we have our own budget, but we also are part of a national and international. Yeah, so it's really cool to be a part of something that can be hyperlocal but also global at the same time.

Can you tell us a little bit about what's so we? We know that YFC targets youth and why Youth for Christ exists and why it's so important in our community, in our world. Yeah, that youth for Christ exists to reach lost students where they're at for, for the gospel, which means that we believe that the, the hope that they have, that each student has, each human being has, is in having a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so our goal and our mission is to go where students are at. We don't wait for them to come to us.

We find ways that we can meet them where they're at with with, with very well vetted, safe people that are passionate about reaching students and, and going going to them, but also providing spaces that they can meet us too. So the goal isn't for us to have youth centers necessarily, unless we're also willing to do the work to go to them. And so locally, the reason it's so important here is a many people from around the United States and maybe around the world, there's a lot of assumptions about like how Christianized the United States is.

But here in the Northwest, only about 10% of students know Jesus. Only about 10% of people here in this local community actually go to church. Yeah, that's so true. I think about my own story and one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about the finance part is the things that happened to us when we're when we're teenagers. That is like some there's, there's the the early childhood development, but then there's those middle school and high school years that really solidify a lot of things in our life on how we operate as adults, whether that's in our finances, in our faith, you know, maybe career wise, our relationships.

And so I think that, yeah, I mean, you, you touched on it. There's especially in our area, but that's why Youth for Christ exists internationally too, is that there are kids that don't, that aren't going to be going to a, a church youth group or they don't want to have anything to do with Jesus. And that was, that was my story when I was in middle school or high school. And so having someone that could come alongside me and help me answer my questions about my faith and be there to be a safe adult.

My parents are fantastic and they were, they were there for me in the capacities that they could for those types of questions, but that wasn't something of focus for them. And then as I got older and I, you know, I ask more and more questions, but that time, that middle school, high school years is so pivotal. The there's three big questions that like we talked about many times in youth for Christ is identity, community and purpose. And students like, the more we get into a lot of people don't think the middle school kids are looking for purpose because they're middle school kids.

But but kids really are struggling at an earlier and earlier age every year because of the because the media saturation, because of some of the cultural movements, kids, students struggle earlier and earlier with the, the questions of identity, community and purpose. And the great thing about the gospel is how well it answers those questions is how, how amazing is it for a student to be able to go into their adult life knowing what their purpose is, knowing who they are and knowing where their community is, where they can find people of like mindedness, but also support and what an amazing journey.

And so we see so many students that are just wondering, like we had a student up in Paulsville that he'd lost a parent and he'd lost his sense of identity. And it's his sense of purpose and his sense of community. Like his family was his community and his mom was the center of that community. And so there there was that sense of lostness that is hard to go into your adult life with. And so that's why I think why FC, why, why FC is so important because if a student doesn't find those things when they're when they're younger, they have a much harder time finding it when they're older.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good point. There's so many, there's so much information available nowadays, more so than when I was growing up. And so we think and not all that information is necessarily the right thing for young people to have. I know it's just having a conversation with some some friends and my young daughter was in the room and we had to go, OK, hold on. Like even though we might not think that they're listening, they're listening. And so I think that that is a really a really good point is there is that information available and making sure that the information is in their best interest is, is super important.

And so you and I are of the faith. And I think that that's a very vital piece of our identity and our community and who we are. And so that's why this that's why I was so excited about doing this, this episode with you, because this is for me. And in my story, this is where God showed up the most in once I finally let like the financial part go and start, you know, letting him manage those things for me and then just taking his lead. And so, and one of those things is being able to give to organizations that are important to me and my family, because that's where we, you know, we, just before we got started, we talked about legacy and the things that we want to create with the tool of money and being able to create memories with our families.

And that was one of the things too, that I, that stuck out to me when I was working with youth is kids want, they want their parents or they want the adults in their life to be present for them, right? Would you say that's true? Yeah, whether whether it's a stated or an unstated, whether they realize it or they don't realize it, most of the time what you'll find if you unpack that with a child or youth, if you unpack that with them, it'll come up. It's, it's something that's just right below the surface and we encourage our volunteers to, to listen and ask questions.

And it doesn't take long before you can feel that that need, whether they state it clearly or not, but it's definitely there. Some kids are a little bit more averse to that idea, but it, they can't hide it. They really can't. It's it's pretty obvious. Yeah, I'd say sometimes, Yeah, sometimes they'll come out and say it like I hey, I wish my mom didn't have to work three jobs to, you know, pay the bills. Or, and that's so heartbreaking when you hear that because when they get to the point that they're articulating it, it's super painful.

Yeah, this is what it kind of gets down to the heart of why I created this show and why I do what I do because giving those opportunities for parents to be more present with their kids and take care, you know, get the get the finances in order so that we can, we're not living in survival mode. We can thrive more. We can, you know, contribute to our communities, whether that's our faith community or just be able to be more present for our kids and have these experiences that we sometimes will dream about as parents, but we don't necessarily always feel like we have the capacity to put them into play.

Then I think that that's one of the the parallel things with, with the youth that we work with is that the presence. The presence is the big present, if you will, right? Yeah, and that was that's something that in my in my own life, I had to come to terms with. It wasn't so much that I was being irresponsible by finances. It was my, it was my heart. So whether or not my finances were going to change, it was, it was the fact that I was freaking out about it all the time and it was a constant thing in my heart.

And so if one of the things that you're doing is just helping give people the confidence that they don't have to live in fear of, of a financial, the financially disastrous future. Sometimes it's just giving them the confidence say, oh, I am, I am doing all that I can. And and we can't control the future, but we can do everything we can right now. And to be to live more open handedly with the future because you know that you're doing all you can in the present. That's something that I had to learn myself is for there for a while in my life, we were a single income pastor family and we just didn't have, we didn't have two pennies to push together.

And what I had to realize is that I we, our situation wasn't going to change. We could be as responsible as we could be. And then to have the faith to know that God's going to carry the future. And that's something I finally had to come to terms with this, to say, OK, we're doing everything that we can. And the fear that I'm feeling isn't helping. And that fear can affect relationships. And that fear can affect and it can also affect how you spend money. Because if you're freaking out and then if you finally decide you're just going to give up, then you're going to become irresponsible again because you're going to feel that that helplessness, Yeah, of not knowing what to do next, realizing you do have some controls.

But if you're freaking out, you're just going to be just as irresponsible as before and also scared. Yeah, right. Yeah. And then it just compounds. And then, I mean, you, you said it like it starts to affect our relationships. It effects, you know, it affects our marriages and our relationships with our kids and. And I think that's, that's such a, that's such a good point. And also goes back to like, like we, our kids are only young for so long. And I know your family's going through a lot of big transitions as your kids are getting older and not having that time to create those memories with them because we're, you know, busy doing other things and kind of solving for yesterday when we want to be more present in today.

In the space in our life in which we can start living in the present, with our with our. With my student, with my children, my own children. Not my students, my own children. It's it's a freedom to know that if, if we decide to make, if we decide to go buy a pair of shoes for her, I don't have to sleep horribly at night because I bought a pair of shoes and she wanted basketball shoes. We went shopping the other day at the mall and I'm looking at the price of the basketball shoes. For some reason, the prices of shoes back when I was 13 years old were popping into my brain and I was like, OK, Barb, maybe you need to reframe this.

But now to be in a position in life in which, you know, our financial situation is better now, but it's, it's my, it's my heart. When I actually go up to pay for those shoes and, and I realize that I'm not living in fear because I'm buying a pair of shoes for my daughter. And, and so there's the responsibility piece, but then there's also the heart piece. And I think the responsibility piece can help that. But I think that's where faith steps in to realize for me that I don't like the future is chaos.

The future is an unknown we can only control right now. And then if we're living in fear, fear is really response to an existential future. It's something that we can only think about. And maybe it's a possibility, but all we can really control is the present. And so if I live in the, if my brain is constantly living in the future and my finances aren't good in the present, then I'm always going to be fearing what's going to possibly happen later, knowing that I don't control that I do control what I do right.

And so learning how to fear the things that I don't control is a recipe for just relational brokenness. It's a recipe for the future financial decisions that are probably not as good. But yeah, that's, that's something I had to learn the hard way. And so my my daughter has a pair of purple basketball shoes. And I think that's ultimately what I feared the most was that she picked purple basketball shoes and not how much we spent on them. So. Right, yes, because I feel like shoes for children are unreasonably expensive, but they need them, right.

And it kind of goes back to those OK, like where, you know, where are we going to file this in our, in our mental categories of OK, we're providing for providing for our kids, but then also trying to the practical stuff of like this is how much money we have to spend on them. But I think you you hit the nail on the head, like the heart piece behind it. And I know that purple is going to bring her more joy than, you know, hot pink night. And like, you know, sometimes there's no, there's no price for those kinds of things.

But in our family, we say keep the eye on the prize. Like, all right, what's the what's the big, what's the big prize at the end that yes, you're going to you're going to get the basketball shoes, but. What's the big prize? Kind of yeah. And this is kind of like this really does summarize kind of the old me and the new me is that I was dragging my feet. My daughter was needed a pair of new basketball shoes and I was like, they still fit, like her shoes still fit, but she was, she was coming home and her knees were hurting and, and like she, her arches were starting to hurt.

And I was like, oh, that's just because she's grown. That's just because she's growing and, and she's like that. I think I might need a new pair of shoes. I'm like, you're just growing, finally going get a pair of shoes. And I was dragging my feet because not because she's probably growing because I was trying to convince myself I didn't want to spend. And so we finally go out and buy the shoes and it was for tryouts because it was important that she do well in tryouts. And I was like, I don't want, I mean, so I was like, but we'll just go get her the shoes just in case because I was tired of like dealing with it.

And we got the shoes and she came back from tryouts and she actually worked out harder during tryouts than she did in all of her rec league practices. And I was like, how was your knee and how's your feet? And she's like, they're great. We should have went and got the shoe sooner. And I was like old Bart, I was like, I, I was dragging my feet because I didn't want to spend the money. And ultimately, I was like, damaging my daughter's legs. Well, I think this is this is just a perfect example though, Like this is an ongoing thing.

It's not like we, you know, wake up and especially, you know, if you've said yes to Jesus and you're like, like, OK, he's the, he's the Lord and Savior of my life. And then everything's fine and dandy and great from there. Like we still struggle with some of those things. And, you know, I mean, we talk about money on this on this show a lot, but that's the that's the, our big common thing. But it's not just overnight that this is a switch that flips and everything is fine after that. It is constantly like, OK, reminding ourselves, like you said, that's the old part, the new part.

This is the decision he's making. And get in the purple basketball shoes because this brings my daughter so much joy. And you know, it's going to not not just joy, but, you know, taking care of her physical body, too. Yeah, absolutely. And it was, you're right. It's not a battle that was won overnight. But I don't remember if I was having this conversation with you or somebody else the other day that I finally got spoke to me as clearly as he could speak to me and said, Bart, either go get your money or or be faithful.

He's like, Bart, stop freaking out about money. If you're going to keep freaking out money, go get your money. Yeah, or, or, or stay in ministry and realize you might not ever really have as much as you want, but you'll probably have as much as you need. And that was kind of, that was an awakening for me because I was like, well, number one was like, I'm not sure how to go get my money. But it was like, I don't know what sort of skill set a, an educated teacher and now converted pastor can actually go get.

But but, but it was obvious that he was saying like either go after money or, or go after me and, and trust and do his best. You know, be responsible, be a good steward of your but know that you might not not have everything that you want. But but that's not what I'm calling you to. Well, Oh my gosh, I feel like that just sums up all of this. And we can. Stop there. That is, that is absolutely, yes, I could not say it better myself because yes, we can't serve 2 masters And that's, you know, and scripture is very clear on that.

And I think even in my own journey, that's what I was, I was trying to do. And then once I, once I became very clear to me that I was serving 2 masters, you, you have to let one go. And when you do, I mean, it's just like trying to multitask, like things become that one task that you focus on becomes that much easier. And so whether you're comparing your life to someone elses life or maybe comparing your life to what you used to have or what you always wanted to or dreamt of. And I think that's kind of being in previously being in your shoes.

As far as the ministry side goes, we can have our basic needs taken care of and then still wanting more. And I, I don't think that necessarily wanting more is a bad thing. It is what we, what we do with that, that can, can really change, change how we do things. And so like on the show we talked about like not using, you know, not using, not taking that thing. I really want this. Let's just put it on a credit card and I'll deal with it tomorrow. You're making, you know today's problem, you're making more problems for tomorrow.

And you know you, you said at the very beginning, we're not guaranteed tomorrow. We don't know what tomorrow holds. There's a lot of chaos already there. We just don't know what the chaos is. And so being present and and spending today's money today is much better. What and I think two things that I think are are important to that and was important to me in my journey was reflection and gratitude is looking back and seeing how God had pulled me through. Like we moved up here and back in 2010, we moved up here and we were in the midst of losing a house because the economic downturn in South Dakota and we we were living with a crazy amount of like debt, stuff like that because I've been employed for a while, but we weren't quite sure how we can get out of it.

I was working from home because I couldn't afford the gas to actually drive to my office and and it was getting to be a bit of a stressor. And then we'd adopted my son Nathan a few years previous. And here's where like the United States tax law and ended up being a blessing from God is we, we've been here for a few months. We went and did our taxes. And you know, because I'm in clergy, clergy taxes specifically, particularly like weird sort of thing that you shouldn't just do it yourself. It's it's our taxes.

So we call our accountant and this is maybe mid March. And she said, she goes, are you sitting down? I said, why? And she goes because I just think you should sit down when I tell you how much, how much this is going to be. And I said, OK, OK. And she goes, you're getting back $29,000.

What? And so #1 like we were, we had three kids at the time and we're living lower income. And so like we were, we were going to get a lot of money back anyway. But something changed in the tax law just that year, in the year that we happened to be like desperate for money. And so Nathan's, when you adopt A child, there's, there's tax implications for that, good tax implications for people that adopt children. And it changed over from a tax credits to a tax deduction, if I remember right, which means we could deduce all or deduct all the, all the expenses from his because there's a tax credit, you can only allocate certain amounts per year.

But as a tax deduction, it can all happen in one year. And we've, and I mean, it was such an incredible blessing. And I just realized coming out of that as like, there's literally nothing that we did to get that blessing and the gratitude and the reflection on like God, God basically saying, Bart, look at how I'm taking care of and how I will take care of you. And then the gratitude piece of just if, if we're, if we as human beings can't stop and take stock of where we're at. And I realized like.

My youngest is 13 years old and she's never not had a roof over her head. She's never had to beg for a meal. She's never had to. She, the shoes weren't always the nicest, but she's always had shoes. And we take, we don't take stock of that and we take, we take that for granted. And so my, one of my greatest suggestions for financial happiness is just gratitude and looking and seeing how you get carried through. Because if we have an attitude of gratitude, attitude of gratitude, I always hate using that term.

But if we have that, that heart of thankfulness, there we go. Then, then it, it kind of re it refocuses our needs and our wants. And then, and that can help refocus our finances when we can recognize something as a need or a want, because sometimes we don't do that. And then we can. And then if we can look back and say, wow, I can't believe that that I've been, I've gotten this far in life and I've gotten these things that I haven't even recognized them. We just, we just seem to think that it's sometimes we can think that that's just something that we deserve or something that that everybody gets.

And then you could take one look at the newspaper or the medians realize that not everybody's getting that stuff. Not everybody's getting that plus it. It's that reflection of that gratitude is a huge part of of helping to really understand what your, what your true needs are, what what you truly have to have in order to to get through life. Yeah, yeah, take account for for those things and see that the the tangible needs are taken care of. But there's so many other things too that you can put in those that thankful category of, you know, health and the people that you have in your life.

And those, those things that don't carry the kind of price tags that you know, come with receipts, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so. Oh, Bart, this is so good. My gosh. I just, I had just thought of something when we were talking. So some of the people I've met in my life that are the most gracious and most have the most amount of gratitude are people that have lived on the edge like missionaries. And if you've ever, if you've ever hung out with an international missionary before, they will tell you stories that will, that will make you.

I, I talked to a missionary one time. He said, yeah, he goes, I've had to pack up in the middle of the night to go to another country with my family. And God took care of me and I was like, no, he didn't. You have to pack up and move in the middle of the night. And, and it was his attitude towards that my family was alive. We got out of there, we found a new place to go. He carried us through. My kids were fed. And I'm like, yeah, but and, and it like the some of the people that are the most content in my experience are these missionaries.

Like if you ever want to learn about how to be content, talk to a person that spent time in a third world country in a mission, whether Christian or non Christian, I would say even, but but for me, I would say Christian because there's there is this scaled down dynamic of need in which they've really have to ask that question of need versus want on a daily basis because you can't pack once, you can only pack needs on the mission field. Yeah, and then you know what you're grateful for. Like this guy, his name is Barry Gold.

What's his name? It's very ironic. His last name is Gold. But boy like he, he reframed my, my, he reframed my idea of, of what it meant to follow God and to follow God's will and to understand what God's will is and then to help that kind of refocus my life on resource allocation, if you will. Yeah, resource allocation, I love it such a a technical term for for just yeah, reorienting what what matters most in life. And and that's, that's such a good point. The when you when you have little, you can appreciate what you have even more.

And so not that I mean, I've been in different environments where they're like, you know, OK, get rid of all of your all of your things and you know, live on as little as possible, which I think is a great. Exercise. Yeah, I think it's a great exercise for a little while. And I mean, it helped, you know, it helped me eliminate some of the the things that clutter in my life, if you will. So if you know, if that's what you're you feel like is going to help you and encourage you in your in your journey, go for it.

It's a great exercise. I remember coming back from a trip to West Africa and telling, telling my husband I was like, all right, we're getting rid of everything. We're going to sleep on a mattress on the floor. And he's like, what? Don't what you know, just he had not had the same experience, but I had seen things so much differently than when I left. And but now it makes me appreciate that yes, our home is small compared to American standards, but it like you said, your daughter is not going to have to worry about never having a roof over her head.

And I know that for us before our family grew like we almost lost this house twice because of decisions and financial stuff. Some of it was within our control and some of it wasn't. And so being, being grateful for where we are in those in those moments is such a such a good exercise to do on a regular basis. Or how do you how do you incorporate that kind of that gratitude into like day-to-day life, whether it's with students or you meet with donors a lot? How do you do you have some good practical tips on how we can just express or maybe you know, just some some practical ways to express that gratitude?

Yeah, if I could finish you, you just had a thought and I wanted to bring it up. In the Bible, there's the there's the story of the rich and new ruler and the rich and ruler at ruler asks Jesus, he's like, what does it take to follow you? And he says, sell off everything. Many times when people read the Bible, they'll think that everything's prescriptive or descriptive. And pretty much they'll take everything is prescriptive. And then I'll say we'll go back to the book of Leviticus and follow all that stuff and see how that goes for you.

Not everything that Jesus was saying was prescriptive to everybody, but it was the heart of what he was talking about, right. And the heart of what he's talking about is he saw the heart of that ruler. He saw the heart of that individual and said, this is what it's going to take for you to follow me because he saw that guy's heart. And I would say that when you're talking about like some people need to just Chuck everything, maybe if that is something that is going to truly undermine your life, quality of life and your ability to pursue God, then maybe.

But if your heart towards things isn't such that those things are always standing in the way of you and God, then that's a different conversation. And so God looks at the heart, he's going to look at your heart, he's in and he's going to look at how your heart effects your behaviors. And, and if you're, if you're seeking what God has for you, he's going to show you the things that are getting in the way. And I think that's important. So you're asking me a question about how the, the gratitude piece plays in.

And I would say that there's an open handedness when we talk to, when they talk particularly about donors and partners and that sort of thing. And I'm, I'm not a great developer guy, but one of the pieces that we really lean into with you for Christ when it comes to building partnerships, finding, finding the funds to be able to do ministry is to not, is not, is not to push the fear button and not to push the desperation button, but to build relationships with donors and partners like we would with, with students.

And to say, you are, you're as just as valuable as the students that we're working with. You're another relationship that is part of this ministry. There's a calling on your life. Is that calling to be part of what we're doing? If so, I can hold that relationship very open handedly and say, I trust that God is going to provide for my ministry, for the ministry that he's put me in. And I also trust that God has put a calling on your life. If that calling is to be partners with us, great. I know that you will give and give upon certainly because you're following the calling of God.

If not, I can also hold that same relationship open handedly and say, great, what is your colleague and share that joy with them, but also help like help them walk in that and, and, and be a in a relationship with them. And to know that that God owns the cattle of 1000 fields, right? To know that God is ultimately going to be the one. If this ministry is worth what what we think it's worth to God, then he's going to provide what it's going to need. And if he's not, maybe the first question I should be asking is how am I stewarding what he's already given me?

Am I stewarding what he's given me? Well, and to look at that, and that's kind of where we're at in a little bit of a season with our ministry here, is to say how are we stewarding things? Are we stewarding these as best as we can? Because if God gives me another $100,000 tomorrow and I'm not stewarding what I have well, then I'm not gonna steward that $100,000 well either. And so I need to be doing both things. I need to be reaching out and building relationships and partnerships with people that that that might be willing to partner with us financially.

But I also need to go with them with a very clear conscience to say, I know that I'm stewarding every dollar you give me the way God would have me to steward that. And so that that's a relationship. If, if I'm a salesperson, if I'm just trying to get money out of that person, then I'm going to say what it takes to get money out of them. But if I'm truly see this as a relationship and I see myself as a steward, then I'm going to be open. I'm going to be honest. And then going to be I'm going to do everything I can do to make sure that if God blesses me with another partner, that I'm going to take every dollar and do with it what I believe God is asking you to do.

And that's that's a relationship. And that helps me to be able to not treat everybody like a whack A mole, like everybody, like a another widget or just a resource to get like everybody's a little bank account that I can drop from there. A relationship that I can Stewart and I can trust that God is going to to give what he needs if this ministry is something he has for us. And that really, again, it goes to the heart. It helps me to have faith that that he's going to provide for this ministry. And it also helps me to really build integrity and build a great reputation for the organization we're working with.

In which I just had a phone call the other day. We do call campaigns. And in our call campaigns, we, we don't usually do an ask in our call campaigns. What we do is we call, we thank, we answer questions and then we pray with the people that we call and partner with. And we, because we send out other things, we send out marketing materials, we send out asks. But those phone calls are really about saying, we're so thankful that you're part of what we're doing. We just love you guys. We want to pray with you.

And we've, I've prayed with some really hard things with people that I've never met outside of the phone call. And it might not ever. And we actually got a message back. This was over Christmas time from a woman that said, thank you so much for these phone calls. I love that these phone calls are about me and how I'm doing and praying for me. And she actually gave us more money and I was like, we didn't ask for it, but but she saw the heart of why we do what we do. And that's that actually, that's not just a West Side news for Christ thing.

That's what YFC nationally really pushes and really endorses to say. We want you looking at these relationships with everybody, literally everybody with this long term price sharing. Yeah, because I mean, for me, my, my season of life right now, I don't have the capacity to go to the theme parks and build these relationships with the young people that I used to. And so, you know, God has me in a in a different season of life. And so being able to to give and partner with YFC through my money and my and serving in other ways there that I still get to be a part of that, even though I don't have that one-on-one relationship with, you know, the kids at the center or something like that.

And I think that that's the very important thing that you touched on is that it takes, it takes a lot of people to do the type of work that you do. But we all have, we all have a seat on the bus, right? We're all going the same, we're all going the same direction. And organizations like Youth for Christ and there's, there's, there's organizations all over, all over the US, all over the world that rely on on donations. Some of them get funding from other places, but a lot they take it, it takes donations from individuals like you and I to say, hey, this, what you're doing matters.

And we want to be a part of it. And I think that that's that's why I was so excited about doing this episode and highlighting youth for Christ specifically because it's, it's an organization that matters a lot to me. And I could see how if I had had the opportunity to connect with YFC when I was younger, my, my life story might be a little bit differently, you know, might have turned out a little bit differently. And, you know, I'm, I'm not the one to know that. But the work that the work that YFC is doing is so very important because we need more than just, you know, our parents or, you know, people that are raising young people.

And we need a community of people to say, hey, this is we're all on the same bus and we're going the same direction. Come with us. Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I love the idea that the people that that no matter who they are as it relates to this organization, how they're partnering with us, they're responding to a calling that God has given them and not to a sales pitch that we give. And that's why we pray with them because we want them to have spirit. We want them to feel the gratitude of me and actually had a couple phone calls when the people that is a personal friend of mine, they called me and said thank you so much for having just be involved in this.

And I was like, they're thanking me for giving me their money. Yeah. Isn't, isn't that an incredible heart of gratitude to say thank you for allowing us to give you money because we trust that you're going to use it to reach students. Our contribution from Wyoming, by the way, our contribution from Wyoming is reaching kids in Washington. Thank you so much for allowing us to do that. That's, that was incredible. That was a huge eye opener for me as it relates to calling and giving. Yeah, well, I mean, think about how many phone calls do we get?

It's I don't know how many times I see, you know, suspected spam, you know, pops up on my phone. And so then not only is that a real person, and then they just want to say thank you and pray for me. My gosh, I would take those phone calls all day long, you know. So I think that that's it's just like opening up the mailbox and, you know, having a handwritten note in there. There's something very personable and it's just different than the way the rest of the world works right now is, you know, it's not a a chat bot calling you saying, yeah, thank you for your donation, you know.

Every time I get every time I get a potential spam anymore, I answer Hola and and then usually you find out very quickly whether or not they actually know who they were calling. So anyway, yeah, it's it is a different world that we live in. It's, you know, I'm 50 years old now and, and looking back, there's just so many adaptations that the last, the advent of the, of the cell phone was it how many years ago? It changed the game altogether when it came to how people relate to each other. And from a marketing perspective, and this is kind of going a little bit astray of what we're talking about.

The only thing that people trust anymore is interpersonal relationships to it, to the degree that you need to actually be able to do things with them. And so we do marketing here. The marketing doesn't move the needle a whole lot. It's it's only one cog in the wheel and the greatest 'cause we have is just interpersonal relationships and developing those relationships because the media world and the media saturation has just caused such cynicism about messages that come from anybody but a human being, right?

Yeah, Yeah. That's a really good point. So before we wrap up, so say someone has been listening to listening to us have this this little conversation and they're like, hey, I really want to get involved with W sound YFC what they're doing, whether that's through prayer or donating or if they're local and volunteering, what's the best way for them to get involved? The best way to get involved is to yeah, yeah, the best way to get involved is to go to West Sound YFC org and then that's a place where they can both start giving or a volunteering.

We always need volunteers. I understand the commute might be a little bit drastic for some of you, but you know, it's how are you going to use your time wise? But that's all I'm saying. But yeah, that's where you can you can get involved either financially or just get more information about who we are and how you can pray for us. Like we are a faith-based organization here recently and we put out prayer requests and I cannot tell you how God came through on some these prayer requests, people texting us and telling us how they're praying for us and seeing a direct result.

Like God is the one that provides and if he moves people to give, it's because it's because they're feeling like they want to be part of what's going on. God has called them to do that. W Sound, yfc.org is the best place to go to start that process. We'd love to be able to talk to you. I'd love to be able to conversation. If you live locally, we'd love to be able to give guided tours of the, of the place that we do ministry guided tours because we have to walk on there with you because we're working with students, right?

So it's, we want to be safe, but we also want people to see what we're doing. Yeah. So, yeah, that's that's the best way to get engaged. We'd love to have you participate either financially, everybody that is involved in some way is a partner. They're not a donor, they're not a giving unit. They are a partner in what we're doing. Just just as valuable as the people that are serving. Yes, that's such a good point. I'll make sure to link that in the show notes as well so that you can, you know, if that's a part that God's calling you to, I highly encourage it, even if it's, if it's praying, prayer is such a huge thing about you talked about that several times.

Not only does prayer change the people that we're praying for, but it changes us. And I think that it's so valuable and so needed, especially in today's day and age. Our kids need a lot of a lot of prayer. So and so do we write as parents and as adult influences in their life? It's, it's, it's super important that we're following God's lead. So I appreciate you for being on the show and sharing the ministry. That's very important to both of us. But before we go, you and I have worked together. We've told some jokes, and I always love to end the guest spots with a dad joke.

So Bart, you are a dad of four, so I expect a really good joke, especially with one daughter. You better have the best dad joke we've heard on this show. I don't, you know what, I actually had a great 1 and I was going to bring it here because I actually told like we were, we were listening to a speaker the other day and the speaker referenced something. And I looked back at my daughter and it was like a reference to a joke that I made. And she just glared at me because she knew what I was thinking.

But here's here's the joke that came to mind, because I forgot the really good one has Have you heard the news about corduroy pillows? Corduroy pillows No. Have you heard the news about corduroy pillows? No, no, they're making headlines.

Oh my gosh. That is. I love that pause. That was amazing. That is, that's terrible. That is such a bad joke. You're welcome. As my head hits the pillow tonight, I will be thinking about Cory pillows. I actually had a corduroy pillow when I was a kid and I don't know why anybody would ever make those, but. Why would they exist? I don't know, my mom bought it AI think they were actually from a garage sale too which made it worse. But anyway, all right. I'm going to put that on the Do not Buy list.

All right. Thank you so much, Myra. I appreciate you for joining me today and we will see you in the next episode. All right, thank you so much. I appreciate it. God bless. Thank you for tuning into the Debt Rebel show today. Ready to take your family budgeting to the next level, stop that paycheck to paycheck grind and start living debt free? Head over to my website debtrebelpodcast.com. That's DEBTREBEL podcast.com to grab resources, tools and tips to make it happen. And don't forget, subscribe, leave a review.

And if you know another family that will love hearing today's episode, it would be such a gift for both of us, your friend and me. If you share this episode and remember your debt free life starts with one brave step and I'm cheering you on every step of the way. We'll talk soon. Debt Rebel.

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