Frank and Dawn Matthews own a successful sod and seeding company. They specialize in commercial jobs. They bid on contracts and often get them. But the Matthews admit when they first started seeing green, they were foolish about spending the money.
“Things that we wanted to do, we’d just go out and do it,” says Frank.
“We were buying cars, we were taking trips, eating out a lot … just spending money like it was endless,” adds Dawn.
But when the economy took a downturn, job contracts were hard to get.
Dawn says, “We were beginning to get behind some bills two months behind, some bills three months behind. The bills were coming in and stacking up and the money wasn’t. I was paralyzed with fear.”
The Matthews used credit cards to keep the business open. Soon they had $35,000 on plastic in addition to business bills they couldn’t pay.
“Life started becoming very difficult,” says Frank. “I was not sleeping, I was in fear, I was stressed and I was really struggling to get out of bed every day. I just felt like a failure.”
Frank prayed and asked God what was wrong. He says he felt God was telling him his priorities were out of line.
“I just knew that the Lord wanted me to repent. And I said, ‘God, I want to live for you.' I felt His spirit and God restored my life that day,” remembers Frank.
He began to pray for guidance. At the same time, Dawn started watching The 700 Club.
“We’ve always respected Pat and his wisdom. And he’d teach about tithing. I knew that was something that we should be doing and we were out of God’s will.
They not only began tithing to CBN, they also cut up their credit cards.
“When we cut the cards, it was a celebration. It just felt so good. A feeling I had not felt in a long time.”
And the Matthews started to see a change.
“Work started picking up. Checks would come in that we did not expect to come in. The phone was ringing. People were calling on jobs we quoted in the past and people would say, ‘Hey I’ve got this job and we want you to come out and start immediately.' Our lives were really starting to get exciting again."
Dawn and Frank continued to tithe and decided to give over and above their tithe. Six months after they increased their giving to CBN, the Matthews landed their largest seeding contract ever … nearly $1.5 million.
“We were so excited,” says Dawn. “We jumped up and down, praise God! We’ve got a chance at life again. We were being obedient and God was blessing that. And we just wanted to do more and more and more!”
2009 has been one of the best seasons for the Matthews. They hope to have their credit cards paid off by the end of the year.
“If you are struggling with your life and your finances and you just don’t see a way out, I would just encourage you to become obedient to the Lord and start tithing,” says Frank. “When we are obedient, He is going to bless us for that.”
The Matthews saw the rewards of applying the Law of Reciprocity — "Give and it shall be given to you" — by giving to CBN. Here is your chance to give to the Lord and see your dollars bring truth to hurting people: feed and clothe needy children; keep The 700 Club Prayer Counseling Center phone lines operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and provide medical care to those who need a tangible touch of God's love. Become a CBN partner today!
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