I have always been blessed in my adult life with consistent employment and the financial means to manage my obligations.  My story is typical of many Americans in that even though I always had the means to have my money work for me and to help others I always managed to spend what I made every check.  Worse, when I would reflect on what I did with my money I couldn’t even begin to account for where it went and then I would blame my wife on the rare occasion that I would take stock of our finances. 

I am a 32-year member of Grace Church and as my maturity level grew God put on my heart that I was failing as a steward of his blessings on my life and sporadic giving was the chief symptom of my failure.  I attended the first Dave Ramsey class ever offered at Grace, but I just didn’t get it and I went through the motions in the class but never committed to it because I thought I knew everything.  I have yet to admit that I have worked in the financial services industry for 30 plus years as a manager and loan officer in the mortgage business.  So, certainly, I should have known better, but change is hard especially when it comes to managing money.  I actually took the Financial Peace class 3 times before it stuck but by the time that finally happened there was a pile of financial regrets and missed opportunities in my history.  My passion has been to help others avoid making the same mistakes I made, and I have been blessed with an opportunity to do so at Grace. 

Phil Lankford and I have taught the Dave Ramsey class for the last decade or so at the church.  That opened an opportunity for us to partner with Shelley Long counseling One to One “crew” members from a financial perspective over the last several years.  Shelly has taken another step within the Reach family of ministries and created the Money Mentors team to expand the church’s ability assist our sisters and brothers in this area and I am privileged to be a part of it.  These ministries are all that I do for Grace and I take every opportunity I can to help folks as a result and I have seen God move in the coolest ways doing it. If I can help you in any way, I will certainly jump on it!