by Hope Venetta | Oct 6, 2015 | Maximized Hope, Stress Free Bridal Party, Uncategorized
This phrase “financial fitness” conjures up anxious feelings for me. Actually any phrase involving the word fitness puts me on the defensive. I Googled the word fitness and this definition sums up my understanding of the word : the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task. When I read this, the words washed over me in judgement. The quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task. When I pair this definition of fitness with the word financial, I get a sinking feeling. My first thought is that I am not suitable, and never have been.
In yesterday’s post I shared that I equated wealth with worthiness. Somewhere in my mind I created the belief that if I were good enough, I’d have enough money. But since I didn’t, that must mean that I wasn’t good enough. Since I was about 9 or 10 years old I have been a student of self help. My thought was, if I could make myself better, good things would come to me. It is a trap that many people fall into. Yes, to a certain extent, being the best version of yourself through self help can benefit a person. But there are skills involved in wealth generation and maintenance that have nothing to do with how good a person you are.
I have lived my life like the servant with 1 talent in Matthew 25:14-30. He said he was afraid. Afraid to try the business practices of the master, so he did nothing. Did he even understand the concepts of wealth creation? It is clear that he observed what the master did. He said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed.” It is clear to me that this servant did not understand how to conduct business, so he did nothing. Not even the easiest thing to do, like putting the money in the bank to earn interest. I really resonate with this servant. It is fear of the unknown that has held me back in this area of life. The Message Bible’s translation helps explain my feelings a little more: “Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money.” I was afraid I might disappoint you….ah, there it is.
Being afraid and not knowing how to do things is not an excuse. the world has rules and they apply whether you understand them or not. In this parable, the master gave each servant a responsibility according to his ability. So the servant with one talent had the ability to manage it, but he let fear bind him. We all have the responsibility to do something. Doing nothing will only bring pain and more problems. So how do I get over the fear? The bible encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. No amount of reading I have done regarding finances has helped me get of over my issues. It has always felt like some kind of punishment or drudgery to get my financial house in order and become financially fit. I heard something recently that is helping me turn the corner on this idea. I saw a Marie Forleo interview with Kate Northrup on YouTube. She said something that completely blew my mind. She said, “Financial fitness is not about deprivation and punishment. Financial fitness is self care.”
Self care. Now that is a concept I understand.
by Hope Venetta | Oct 5, 2015 | Maximized Hope, Stress Free Bridal Party, Uncategorized
What happens when your real and present financial need blinds you? What happens when the singular pursuit of goals you set for yourself in order to meet those needs damage your relationships. Laser focus. Is it worth it?
Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I was poor growing up. Not third world poor, not homeless poor, but low income American poor (which I fully understand is rich comparatively). I recognized differences between how my family lived and the people’s live I saw in movies, on TV, in the books I read, and even at school. This developed in me a constant striving. I always felt I had to make up for being poor. To find innovative ways to get access to what was mainstream. Fortunately for me I could find it through books. I was a voracious reader, going through 2 or 3 books a day, especially in the summer when I had more time. I read everything from dime store romance novels to self help books. I learned what vocabulary to use, what mannerisms to take on, and how to interact with people who have more opportunity and privilege. That was my ticket out, knowing how to interact with the well to do. However, I never felt acceptable. I always felt lacking because I knew who I really was – a poor girl wearing a mask. An impostor.
At some point, good speech and the ability to appear as if you are a certain socioeconomic class is not enough. Yes it opened doors, but I didn’t have the know how of what to do to actually become one of the folks I looked up to. I had no concept of how to be financially fit. I was frustrated by knowing what I wanted , but not knowing how to get there. Actually, I never recognized the fact that there were tools to get there. What was financial literacy? I just assumed that wealthier people were just inherently worthy of wealth and that I just didn’t measure up, so I was poor. Despite my striving and trying to become a better person so I would be worthy of wealth, it always came back to not ever having enough money to cover my basic needs as well as being able to live the lifestyle I aspired to. I stumbled along this way for years making terrible financial decisions and being chronically underemployed.
Enter home based direct sales businesses. The idea of a business such as this could solve my income problems. The business models promised large profits, and I met real live people who had made it happen. So I reorganized my whole life to focus my business of the moment, hoping that it would meet my immediate financial needs. I figured I would have time for relationships later. However, one of the tenants of this type of business is to create relationships. I tried my hand a several different companies. I was an Amway Independent Business Owner and a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant. Both of those tries at business were miserable failures. In the beginning I rarely saw my customers as anything but dollar signs or gateways to dollars. I felt it, they felt it, and it didn’t feel good. It made things uncomfortable. I felt even more tense and desperate about money because I put my financial well being in the hands of someone who just wanted to buy a lipstick from me in my current role as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. When I recognized what I was doing, I didn’t like who I had become. Transactional friendship is no friendship at all. I saw a Dave Ramsey YouTube clip that described what I was doing as relationship rape. When I heard him describe it that way, I felt like someone punched me in the chest. The entire reason I was involved in these business was to make money as quickly as possible. What I didn’t realize is that like any other business it would take time to grow a customer base, and build a network that would generate the kind of income I wanted.
So, this brings me back to my initial question. How do I handle the reality of immediate and urgent financial needs? Medical bills and student loans don’t care about my journey to become self aware through business. They don’t care that I have a mortgage, and have to pay for the “financial sins” of my youth (not saving, credit card debt, etc). They demand payment by the 15th. Period.
Christ said that he came so that we might have life, and that more abundantly. What does this mean for us in a financial sense? Can I claim financial abundance in this way? Is that even biblical?? I wish I knew.
by Hope Venetta | Oct 4, 2015 | Maximized Hope, Stress Free Bridal Party, Uncategorized
There is no way I was born to just pay bills and die. Anybody else feel the grind of life trying to tell you that this is all there is? Money can bring up many emotions, both positive and negative. Unfortunately for me, the feelings money brings up are more negative than positive. If I think about money for long enough, my heart quickens and I get this desperate feeling. Thoughts like “there is never enough”, “I’m not able to earn more”, and “it will always be like this” well up to the surface. I feel boxed in, pinned down, and bound with the feeling that I can’t do anything about it. It is a scary thing for me to face, and even scarier to share. This week’s theme for my 31 days of authenticity writing challenge will focus on financial fitness. Don’t expect me to turn in to Suzie Orman or Dave Ramsey. What you will find here is not sage financial advice, but what it looks like to be in the middle of overcoming a generational curse. The war is on. I claim victory in Jesus’ name.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
by Hope Venetta | Oct 3, 2015 | Maximized Hope, Stress Free Bridal Party, Uncategorized
God has been leading me through quite a lot of healing and restoration. The things I have uncovered help me understand who I am and why I do the things I do.
I have been doing the Making Peace With Your Past program and uncovered why I am now unfulfilled by my current job. It would appear that my family of origin caused a need for control in my life. A pretty common theme for folks who had so called dysfunctional families growing up. At any rate, the types of jobs that I have been in for the majority of my working life have involved being in total control. I am a meeting/event planner. I dot every “i” and cross every “t”. Things happen or don’t happen according to my say so. When was in my twenties, I absolutely loved it. It gave me such a charge to set up programs in resorts and fine hotels. It gave me a rush that hoteliers valued my business and made sure that I had everything I needed or wanted for my events to go according to plan. My plan. The girl who lived a stone’s throw away from the infamous Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. The kid who qualified for the free lunch program at school. The girl who was laughed at for wearing hand me down clothes from the previous decade. Yes, her. In my job I felt fulfilled in every way. Finally feeling in control, and getting paid for it. It was perfect. And I loved every minute of it.
Despite all of that, there is one thing I know for sure. You cannot escape your calling. It will hunt you down, surprise you on your way to somewhere else, and redirect you down the path you’re supposed to go.
After a while the fancy hotels stopped being interesting. My emotional pain and need for control was no longer satisfied by beautiful oceanside resorts. The God shaped hole inside my soul wanted and needed more attention, more support, and more approval from an entity that could not and would not give it. I grew bitter, withdrawn, and ungrateful. I stewed in my anger so long that it clouded my vision, stunted my growth, and otherwise derailed me for 7 years. I was stuck in a holding pattern until I said yes. Yes to my calling. Yes to my purpose.
I am a writer. Of that I have no doubt. I love telling stories, whether written, spoken, or sung. My goal is to use my gift to give voice to the thoughts women struggle with, but are unable to express. By the help of the Holy Spirit, I aim to empower others to lean into Christ as they trust him to break generational curses and prepare themselves to receive God’s blessing as I have. I am grateful for this journey.
by Hope Venetta | Oct 2, 2015 | Maximized Hope, Stress Free Bridal Party, Uncategorized
The law of attraction can put some Christians up in arms, but the idea that you can knowingly or unknowingly put a positive or negative idea or intention out into the universe (asking God) and you will attract that thing to you is compelling. In Luke 11 Christ says “ask and it will be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened.” Pretty powerful stuff. God’s laws and promises are true. They work whether we believe in them or not, and whether we understand them or not. We are also created in the image of God. This is true even if we don’t know God. Since God has creative power with His words, so do we. This extends even to those who are not followers of God. Stick with me here. I do have a point.
I bring all this up because of basketball. Our home owner’s association is considering installing a basketball court. A discussion about it in a neighborhood online forum really got out of hand. My husband and I are against having the court installed across the street from our house. We think that it will generate excessive noise, loitering, and a greater amount of unwanted traffic from outside the neighborhood. Some people are very much in favor of the court going in as an added community amenity. The conversation quickly devolved into a racial conflict when people began calling my white husband a racist for not wanting the basketball court. I find that ironic, as I am an African American.
This made me think about what we look for in our lives, and I had an epiphany. There has been some fascinating research done about the reticular activation system in our brains, Basically, when we fix our minds on something (set an intention) our minds go to work. Th blinders come off so to speak and our brains begin to look for ways to make that intention happen. All of this happens automatically, even if we are not aware of the process.
So, if a person believes that white people are racist, they will see what can be perceived as racism in anything white people do.
Human beings are so much more powerful than we ever dared realize. Created in the image of All Mighty God, with all the privileges and responsibilities that entails. This is why sonship and salvation are so important. When we live our lives a prodigals, we waste our wealth and give away our power. We become so lost and misguided that we end up eating left over pig slop from the hog trough.
by Hope Venetta | Aug 4, 2015 | Maximized Hope
It started with concern for my husband. He’d come home and share with me unbelievable stories about what was happening in the school where he worked. He told me about children who acted out in every conceivable negative way. He told me about teachers so overwhelmed, that sick days were frequent and turnover was high. He told me about administrators trying to hold it all together, but only making things worse. I saw the toll it was taking on him both physically and spiritually.
I reached out to everyone I could think of who might have influence. No one responded. So I sent out a massive call for an emergency prayer meeting to a pastors network and a group of committed individuals dedicated to praying for my city. I had no idea groups like that even existed. I also didn’t know that in that prayer meeting the seed was planted for God to move mightily on behalf of that school.
Fast forward 3 years. Tom was searching the police blotter as I mentioned in an earlier post and found, not 6, but 8 of his former students as having been arrested or currently incarcerated. What I didn’t share in my earlier post is that 3 years ago I served as a jury member on a murder trial. It broke my heart to know that the victim, the accused, and the main witness were all former students at the school where my husband worked. Two of them began their gang activity while students there.
So, again not wanting to just sit, shake my head, and wring my hands, I put a call out to the group that prayed before. A concerned individual who is very involved in prayer for my city took up the cause and advertized a prayer event that I organized, but we didn’t really see much response. I’ll admit it was a little disappointing, but I was committed to pray even if no one showed up.
When my husband and I arrived at the school, there was a flurry of activity. The school doors were open and a young man was welcoming people as they entered. I had no idea an event would be going on, and felt a bit uncomfortable, but I figured we could still pray. When our prayer community friend arrived, he said he knew the guy at the door so he introduced us. Here is where it gets exciting. The young man at the door represented a ministry from one of the larger churches in my city. It turns out that this church has adopted the school and for the past year has been serving them by mentoring students, keeping the grounds, and praying for the school!!!! I couldn’t believe it.
More than 85 committed believers gathered there that Saturday morning for a day of service and prayer. This is far beyond what I expected, but exactly what I had hoped for when I initially began to pray for this school and reached out to the larger community.
It took me several minutes to process what was going on. This event happening without my knowledge or my involvement made me feel a bit redundant. Compared to this impressively organized and well attended gathering, I felt like an amateur. I felt foolish and completely inadequate showing up to wage war in prayer with 2 other people, my concern, and a few prayer points printed out. And, if I am being totally honest, there was a tiny part of me that wanted to be acknowledged that it was me who got this ball rolling 3 years ago. It was me who made everyone aware of the needs of the school. But God lovingly checked my pride, and showed me that this gathering was an answer to my initial prayer. In fact, it was exceedingly, abundantly above all I could have asked or thought.
I no longer felt redundant or pushed aside. I felt heard. I felt overwhelmed at such an incredible answer to prayer. He comforted me with John 3:30, “He must increase , but I must decrease”. I have a new appreciation for this verse. God had taken up my cause so beautifully and completely that I was no longer needed. I am free to serve Him in other ways, and God has opened the door for that as well.
