Finding Success God’s Way

An avid hiker, Angie loves getting outdoors and exploring God’s creation. She said, “I love nature, I love being outdoors. I go up into the mountains with my dog. I spend a lot of quiet time up there with the Lord. It's beautiful.”

Angie is a confident, successful woman. However, there was a time when she felt trapped and was not sure what direction to go. She was 39 and had just escaped an emotionally abusive marriage of 18 years. With her two children Angie started rebuilding her life… beginning with God. She recalled, “I wasn't allowed to read the Bible. I wasn't allowed to go to church. When I left him, the first thing I did was go back to church, to be able to worship, to be able to pray, it was utopia.”

With practically no work experience outside the home, Angie struggled to find a good job. She started out clerking and then went into sales. One thing she did not struggle with was making giving a priority. She recalled, “From the first paycheck I got, I tithed because I knew what God said in Malachi. He said, ‘Test Me in this.’ God's promises were true, and He would never let me down. I had nothing else that I could fall back on except my Lord.” 

When her boss at her sales job asked her to lie to customers, she knew she had to leave even though she was worried about how to provide for her family. She said, “I didn’t know what I was gonna do. How was I going to take care of my kids? How was I going to live? I didn't know. And I was so scared.”

That evening Angie went to her church’s Wednesday night service, hoping to get some direction from God. Before the service started, one of elders came up and started telling her about her life. She says, “He didn’t know me. The last thing he said was, ‘God wants you to know that tomorrow, your night will turn to day.’”

During her drive home, she considered what that meant. Angie recalled, “My mind was going a million miles a minute. I heard the Lord say, ‘What about daycare?’ That had never entered my mind.” So, when she got home, she searched her Bible for confirmation. She says, “I opened the Bible to Jeremiah, and the passage was, ‘If you do what I ask you to do, I will bless you and favor you.’ And I said, ‘okay.’”

Angie told a friend and the idea spread. Almost immediately people began donating supplies and equipment for Angie to start her business. She recalled, “By Tuesday of the next week, I had everything I needed to start a daycare, plus I had five children signed up. As soon as I saw how God was just taking over, I knew that He would prosper me both emotionally and financially.”

Immediately Angie’s home-based daycare business was profitable and soon she even had a waiting list. She continued to tithe and then she noticed something amazing happening. She said, “As soon as I had discretionary money, I began giving over my tithing. The more I gave, the more He gave me. My finances just kept growing, and growing, and growing, and I had discretionary money that I could invest.”

Even when issues arose, Angie found that God faithfully provided. She recalled, “I needed a new roof on my house and that was going to be several thousand dollars. I don't know where the money came from. It was there. I paid it. There was no problem. I don't know how He does it, but it's amazing.”

In 2012, after 28 years running her daycare business, Angie felt it was time to retire. Even in retirement, Angie tithes off her investments. Then, a few years ago, she decided to make another investment by joining The 700 Club. She said, “It makes me feel good to know that I'm helping people who can't help themselves. I'm giving back to God. He's given me so much. And if I can help Him help people who need it, that makes me feel good.”

Angie gives out of a grateful heart, thankful to God for His provision and faithfulness over so many years. She said, “God's ways most generally don't make sense because His ways aren't like our ways. But then when you look back, you go, 'Oh, of course. Now, I understand.' If there's not enough money to go around at the end of the month, you take the first 10% and give it a try and see what happens. He won't fail you.”