Copy of 088 | Ask the Expert: How to Earn all You Can by Listening to the Lord with Simple Money, Rich Life Authors + SeedTime Podcast Hosts Bob + Linda Lotich
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[00:00:00] All right guys. I don't think I have been this excited to introduce you to two people that I really think could potentially change your life, and I know that's a big statement, but Bob and Linda Lotich are gonna be sharing their story, their journey of being deep in debt, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and trusting the Lord to guide them on their own personal path to financial freedom that.
They acknowledge that it's a hundred percent all from him, but even better than that, they have a podcast called The Seed Time Money Podcast that I have fallen in love with and even better, A book that you can tangibly read called Simple Money Rich Life that I was telling them before we hit record on this podcast is truly one of my favorite business books that I have read because it takes the solid biblical foundational principles about money.
It makes them really relatable in a way that you can apply it wherever you are in your financial journey. So it's truly a blessing for you guys to meet Bob and Linda.
[00:01:00]
~And~ thank you guys again ~for, ~for being here today. So, yay. Yeah, we are honored. Thank you so much, Heather. I know, I thank [00:02:00] Yeah, just thanks for having us on the podcast and thanks for that introduction.
That was super kind. And you know that you, that statement you said about you think this, that our story has the potential to change their lives, which is amazing because. It is definitely the Lord that changes lives. And I think hopefully you'll get that out of what we're saying through the rest of this.
Yeah. And that'll inspire you to look for the life-changing things in what he's already done in your life and continues to do. But we're in agreement. We believe that he can do that. Yes. So for anyone listening, yes. Like lean in, God has something, and let's draw that out today. Yes. And I think that's like the biggest theme.
Of course, I know we'll talk about lots of stuff, but I feel like, as my listeners are, they're very driven. They're entrepreneurial, they're ambitious, and they have these, and a lot of times God-given dreams for their lives. Mm-hmm. But they let their own personal desires, sometimes their sin, nature, sin bend, get in the way of something that the Lord has for them.
That could create not just financial freedom, ~but ~but true personal freedom by, hmm. Seeking him [00:03:00] over ~the, ~the shiny objects and the, you know, the tangible things that ~don't, ~don't bring the value. So I think you guys do a beautiful example of ~what that, ~what that could look like. So I know probably a lot of my audience,~ um,~ maybe hasn't met you guys yet.
So I found you guys through a. Another podcast I talk about a lot, the she Works His Way podcast, where Summer Phoebus interviewed you guys and shared your story and I can link that as well. But maybe if you guys could just do a quick snapshot of your life,~ like, you know, ~where you live, your family, I know you have three beautiful kids.
~Um, just, ~just kinda the backstory. Sure. Yeah. Can we redo it? You go. Alright. ~Uh, ~yeah. So summing it up as succinctly as possible. We both were terrible with money,~ um,~ and we both had our own big financial messes. We got married, brought our messes together,~ um,~ and I was about 15 steps ahead of her, or maybe that's best illustration.
~Um, ~about 15 seconds ahead of her on my journey of getting out of debt and cleaning up all of our mess. So we got married, kind of brought our mess together, started moving down this path. ~Um, ~we pump out three kids during this journey, so we [00:04:00] have three kids at this point. We grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, but we now live in Franklin, Tennessee, which we love.
Yeah. We just watched God do so many things in our financial lives as we like yielded to him. Mm-hmm. You know, one of the things we talk about a lot is we yielded to him to allow him to do the supernatural, but that's still required us to do the natural steps. Mm-hmm. And I think so often that's where a lot of people miss it.
Like they will only do the natural stuff and expect like, why am I not seeing, you know, crazy breakthrough or whatever. And it's like, that'll only get you so far and it's not a bad thing to ~like ~do some of these natural steps to whatever, try to live within your means, try to pay up debt or whatever. But the big opportunity that we have as believers is to bring God into that equation and allow him to do the supernatural.
That's when you see the big miracles. That's when, like in our case, we paid off our house by age 31 3 years after we bought it, and it was. By the grace of God. Yeah. It wasn't because we'd managed all the spreadsheets perfectly or anything, you know, it was God stepped in and we allowed him to do what he [00:05:00] does best.
Yeah. You know, so that's what we're trying to empower and encourage people in. Mm-hmm. Oh, that's so good. And I think if there's one take home that people can gain from your book, and there's a, an example I can't wait to share that I've actually already talked about on the podcast, but to share with you guys is just acknowledging the source of all of it, ~you know, ~of every bit of money that is coming your way, even the readers of your book or you know, the podcast downloads, the connections,~ the, the, ~the people that are put in your lives.
All of the ideas, everything ~is, ~is from him. And what's wild is as I read your book and it took us, I think I found you guys months ago, I might have even downloaded the book, but it wasn't until, gosh, a month, I think it was early June, that I actually sat down and listened,~ um,~ to Simple Money Rich Life.
And you shared a really powerful, tangible example of. Of the analogy of a carnival or a fair of getting tickets. And so I would love, you would say it better than I would, but I would love for you to quickly summarize that ~as an, ~as [00:06:00] an analogy for, ~you know, ~the tickets being from the Lord. And then I'll share how that immediately applied to my life after that.
Want me do it? ~Um, ~yeah, you go ahead. Okay. So you have commentary too. This, this is one of the. So this whole thing came out of just this revelation that I had. And this stemmed from another book that I read,~ um,~ by Randy Elkhorn,~ uh,~ called The Treasure Principle. And it's a similar concept they talked about in there, but we had this revelation 'cause we keep going to the fair.
The fair actually in our town is in the next,~ uh,~ two weeks, couple weeks, yeah. And every year we go, we take the kids there. You go up to the booth and you have to buy tickets and they're super expensive and they give you these little paper tickets and you have to buy the exact right amount because if you don't buy enough, then you have to go back to this booth and wait into the line and you know, and all this stuff and go to the a t M to get cash.
'cause they only take cash, whatever. But if you get too many, they're completely worthless as soon as you walk outta that fair. So you don't wanna have too many. And one of the things I've come to realize, Or just kind of like thinking through this as a thought experiment. [00:07:00] It was like, What if it didn't work like that?
What if every time we had a fair ticket and we gave it away to someone else, $10 was deposited in our bank account? Like in, in that situation. If that's kind of what happened, then we would be running around that fair, giving out tickets like crazy because it's like I. Everybody that we give tickets to, when we actually go to the fair, when we're walking out and we have extra ones, like they're excited, they're like, whoa, this is awesome.
You know? And so we get to do that the entire time. See all these people blessed, and then we walk out of there and our bank account just keeps increasing because every time we gave a ticket, $10 was deposited in our bank account. Now, the interesting thing about this is I think,~ um,~ this whole thing of eternal treasure and blessing is not too diff different from this whole analogy that we just used there.
The Bible says, as we give, we're storing up treasures in heaven. And which is so fascinating to me, and it's like we don't have the full understanding of what that means exactly, but the bottom line is we're eternal beings and every [00:08:00] time we give, and there's other ways to do this as well, but specifically it talks about storing up treasures in heaven.
Paul talks about. I forgot what,~ uh,~ what book it's in, but he talks about how your giving leads to,~ uh,~ credit in your account. Mm-hmm. You know, which again seems to be a reference to that. So there's something happening when we give, and, and I think when we see that and understand that mm-hmm. It allows us to just think of all this stuff so much more eternally.
So it becomes less about, all right, I'm just gonna save up as much and buy everything I can possibly dream of while I'm on earth, because we're only here for such a short sliver of time. Yeah. You know. The thing that I love about that too is it can be really easy for people to,~ um,~ especially with certain preaching or teaching that's out there to equate ~that, ~that 10 x, if you will, on your investment mm-hmm.
Or, you know, giving it away. Yeah. Not to happen in this world. And not that that can't or doesn't happen. 'cause of course all, you know, all things are possible, ~you know, ~with, and it absolutely does. But it's. The more important thing is that we all have that [00:09:00] desire in us for more, and I think that's what makes entrepreneurs so driven ~and, ~and a lot of people who are attracted to network marketers is you've got this like long ~for ~for more, but that's intentionally planted in us from the Lord to seek him and to seek, ~you know, ~things that we're not never gonna get satisfied on this earth.
And so I love that you. Primarily focus that on not what impact you can get while you're here in the short term. Yeah. But more importantly, what you're gonna get,~ um,~ yeah. In the end. So I, it's just, it's such a great analogy. And so ~my, ~my story,~ um,~ so I listened to you guys the book. I knew that I was, and maybe that was why ~I, ~I was like, I need to listen to this book and kind of.
Study and prepare as I go in to prayerfully talk about my testimony, my money testimony here, live on the podcast, and really share some things that I've never shared publicly before in my journey. I was like, I really need to, ~you know, ~get, not only dig into the word about ~what, ~what that says about it, but also to,~ um,~ gain advice and wisdom from those who are in that space.
So I was listening to this. And ~the, ~the very next day,~ uh,~ we were [00:10:00] headed out of town to Myrtle Beach for my daughter's lacrosse,~ uh,~ club, lacrosse tournament. And this was, I think the third weekend in a row that we had been traveling. And,~ um,~ I remember looking at my bank account, our family bank account before we left, and I was like, And I can't remember the exact amount on here, but I was like,~ um,~ there's like $47 in our, in our ba That's fun.
Family bank account and we have like a $700 hotel bill. You know, I had planned to ~like ~make it like this, ~you know, ~the, this vacation thing. Yeah. ~And, ~and also on that note too, so just so you guys know, and I've again talked about this extensively on my podcast bit. I kind of do,~ um,~ like the profit first or Dave Ramsey.
Like money, yeah. You know, envelope system through bank accounts. So I have a,~ um,~ family account that my husband and I share. I have a Heather fund money account where my,~ um,~ I actually,~ uh,~ basically pay myself from ~my, ~my network marketing business in that account. And then I have a business account that has a very set specific, I recommend anywhere from,~ um,~ you know, 10 to 30% to invest back in your business.
And the rest, ~you know, ~give [00:11:00] save. ~You know, and, ~and use it, your pleasure. ~But, ~but not to ever invest more in network marketing anyway, ~more than, ~more than 30%. Yeah. 20% ~is, ~is the right amount. So I live by that. So I've got these three accounts. My husband is my C F O as I call it. And because he's the,~ um,~ the,~ uh,~ oh gosh, let's see.
Dave Ramsey calls it. ~Um, ~so I'm the spender saver. He's the saver. And so ~he, ~he manages all those things. So here we are at this time where ~I'm, ~I'm headed into this like travel weekend. And then what do my kids wanna do? They,~ uh,~ they wanna go to the carnival, which is at, if you've ever been to that, the landing ~at, ~at Myrtle Beach.
And so, sure enough, here we are presented it. Thankfully, I, because I had stewarded that money, I was able to transfer and, you know, easily cover, ~you know, ~we didn't actually only have $47, we just only had that in the account. But I still. Really smart. And I was listening. I'm like, Lord, I hear you. There's a lesson in this somewhere.
Mm-hmm. And so we go to the ticket counter and all they wanted to do was, well, one of them just wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, the big Ferris wheel. And then the other one, of course wanted to do all the things. And so I'm like, well, how much would it [00:12:00] cost to ride the Ferris, you know, for the four of us to ride the Ferris wheel?
Got that amount of tickets. And then my other daughter, of course, wanted to do something else. So I got ~those, ~those tickets, and we, they put 'em on a card, just like a little de, ~you know, ~credit card or debit card. And the entire journey was like, it was straight out of your book because it was everything from my daughters use, some of it to get some candy that they then gave.
I was so proud, like they gave it to a little girl instead of keeping it for themselves. Aw. That was a beautiful example that I was like, oh Lord, this is like, hopefully ~we're, ~we're giving, you know, our daughter sees. These exact things. I was able to meet up with and bless,~ um,~ my amazing assistant for the first time.
That was totally by the grace of the Lord and take her,~ um,~ son and her on, on the Ferris wheel, which they were actually both a little bit, well, he was really excited. She was a little bit nervous, and so I was able to share that with them, with the blessing ~of, ~of the smart, you know, financial,~ um,~ I guess I love that.
The tickets. Do you know what I mean? So that's idea is just that. [00:13:00] When, that's how I know when the Lord is working in all the things, is when you read it in the book and then you read it in the Word and then you see it in your life. Mm-hmm. And you can see it in the little simple examples of something like going to the fair with your family.
It's like, that's how you can know the Lord is in it with you. So thank you for, ~you know, ~listening. Yeah. But also for that beautiful,~ um,~ example that I think allows me to better share the good and the bad of my own personal story. Yeah. I mean, I love that because it's like he is always working in our lives, and I think a lot of times,~ we'll,~ we'll hear that one thing or see it and just kind of dismiss it and move on with our lives.
But when we're really paying attention, it's like we start seeing all these benefits and all the things that he's actually trying to do in our lives rather than just missing over them, you know? Which, you know, Everyone does it. Like it's not a dig on you or me or, you know, any, any time we do that, yeah.
It's like we all do it, but like when we actually see the thing that he's doing and acknowledge it, then we start seeing so many more things that are [00:14:00] happening. Like you said, you ~um, ~you know, you started watching, oh, we're at the fair. Well that's kind of fun. That's a coincidence. But then all the things that started going on during, like while you were at the fair, but also during that trip, you know?
Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah, it's awesome. It's so cool. ~It ~it, God is so good. And you know, I think that he shows up in that money space so often good and good and bad,~ um,~ when we just allow him to do that. And so, yeah. I would love another story in the book that I think was super impactful to me and would be impactful for the audience is ~you, ~you break the book down into a few sections on,~ um,~ giving all you can, saving all you can, earning all you can, and enjoying it all.
And so just a little sneak pre preview for those who haven't read the book. It's so good, the wisdom you provide in all those areas, but the earn all you can mm-hmm. Was just really powerful for me, not because, ~you know, ~I like to. Myself, ~you know, ~but because I feel like it was a beautiful example of you guys trusting the Lord, [00:15:00] so would you mind sharing what that looked like to, for you guys to go through the hard time ~of, ~of losing a job,~ um,~ and then present it with opportunity that looked like the perfect answer, but then trusting the Lord that he might have something better.
Mm-hmm. So this all starts back in 2007 when I was working at a big,~ um,~ financial firm trying to climb the corporate ladder. And,~ uh,~ and honestly just quickly finding that I wasn't great at my job. ~Uh, ~as hard disheartening as that was, I was trying really hard. I've always been a hard worker, but found myself in a situation where I'm working so hard, but just not getting ahead like I wanted.
~Um, ~and. Anyway, so in all that, like I'm praying, God, show me what's next. Show me where I should go, show me whatever, like get me to the right place. And,~ uh,~ it was interesting how he got me there. Mm-hmm. But,~ uh,~ the long story short,~ uh,~ it was in,~ uh,~ yeah, the fall of 2007, I guess. ~Um, ~my boss,~ uh,~ boss's boss actually crammed us all into a conference room and everybody, like in the department was in there.
And [00:16:00] so standing room only, and I remember like. Walking in and seeing him and seeing him turn his head, his face like towards me. And I could see like tears in his eyes and I like immediately thought uhoh,~ um,~ and you know, and so, you know, or my first thought was kind of like, all right, I wonder if he's getting laid off because this was 2007, 2008 era, you know?
And so a lot of stuff was going on in the financial world and companies are merging and getting laid off and stuff. And so my first thought was, all right, well, I guess he's getting laid off and. And then like as I thought about him and his character, I realized, wait a minute, he probably wouldn't have tears in his eyes if he was the one getting laid off.
And ~um, ~and then sure enough, a few minutes later, he goes on to explain, he's like, guys, there's no easy way to say this, but everyone in this room, our entire department, we're all getting laid off. ~Um, ~And so, you know, and it's one of those just tough moments or there were lifers in that room who'd been there for 30 years and who like would have a really hard time finding a job after this.
And I was young and, you know, and to be honest, like had I not been as beaten down as I was in my career, I [00:17:00] would've, it would've been a lot harder. But, Like, I didn't feel like there was much further down to go for me until it get much worse. So anyway, so out of that,~ um,~ I immediately go start looking for another job,~ uh,~ because there's a runway.
They said, you know, we have about whatever, six months or something before the, I. Basically we got bought out by another firm and they just didn't need our department. So they got about six months left. But they needed you until a certain point. Yeah. Right. So they did Well, they, they wanted us. Yeah. And they were willing to pay a little bonus if we stayed to the end anyway.
So I start looking for another job and I'm, you know, going through monster.com and whatever, all the job places. And as I'm doing this, I'm really starting to sense from the Lord that something's not right and I can't put my finger on it. I just kept going and it finally became clear that,~ um,~ he revealed it to me that I wasn't supposed to look for another job.
I'm like, all right, that's weird, but what do you want me to do? And ~um, ~and he highlighted my fledgling blog that I had at the time. That,~ um,~ was barely making any [00:18:00] money, barely making, probably wasn't even paying the electric bill. And,~ uh,~ and I felt him lead me to work on that full time. I'm like, this is just insane.
This makes no sense at all. ~Um, ~you know, and I had a conversation with you. Mm-hmm. And for whatever reason you had some peace about this. I'm like,~ I,~ I don't know why you don't think I'm crazy the lord, you know? Yeah. So he must have given you a peace too. Yeah. Anyway, so we kind of, at that point, honestly, I hid it.
I didn't wanna even tell anybody. I was so embarrassed. Like half people didn't know what a blog was in 2007. And Well, yeah, and like, especially like, I remember we went to a wedding and it was like his parents and a bunch of their friends, and they're all like, you need a job son. Well, it was just like, what are you gonna do next?
And he's like, I'm gonna work on my blog. And they're like, Okay, I'll, I'll keep my ears open. You know, I'll keep my eyes off for something for you. Well, yeah, it was funny, like, I mean, 'cause honestly my biggest financial mentor in my life,~ um,~ who impacted me so many positive [00:19:00] ways,~ uh,~ told me this was a terrible idea and you absolutely shouldn't do it.
And anyway, but the point is like, I knew that it was something I was supposed to do. Yeah. I knew that it was God, I knew that it was something we were supposed to do. ~Uh, ~I didn't know why. I didn't understand all the pieces, but I ended up working the rest of those. ~Um, ~whatever months, up until that point where I officially was laid off and now I'm officially a full-time blogger, even though at that point we're making a hundred dollars per month.
Mm-hmm. ~Um, ~and you had like an entry level job and it's like, yeah, how is this ever going to work out? You know, it just made no sense. And then a couple weeks later it's like, I got the answer. It's like, here's what it is. And a friend of mine,~ uh,~ who I had done some kind of work with on the side called me and he is like, Hey,~ uh,~ I'd love for you to come work with me full time.
And he asked me,~ Um,~ what my salary requirements were, whatever. And anyway, all this to say he was gonna pay me twice as much as I was getting at my old day job. And so I'm like, this is it. This is the answer to prayer. Like, right, I now just doubled my salary and [00:20:00] I'm gonna be doing work I love with someone I love and all this different stuff.
And as soon and I, you know, so he tells me this, I'm like, yes, let's do it. Blah, blah, blah. As soon as I hang up the phone, like I sense the Lord say, Nope, that's not it. And I'm like, I am not listening to that. There's no way that's true. Like this absolutely has to be the answer from God. Be cute, devil. Yeah.
Like that's what it was. It's like Peter get behind me saying, you know, ~um, ~and, but it was like, it was so clear. God was like, Nope, that's not it. And. I'm like, oh, I can't do this. But I ended up, that was the hardest phone call I ever made to have to call him back and say, I can't take that job. And not only was it an incredible opportunity, but it was,~ uh,~ eliminating the opportunity but also going back to a place of, we're making a hundred dollars a month from this blog.
Like, how, why would I pass up such an amazing opportunity to go into nothing and having nothing? And, and anyway, in hindsight, over the next year, we watched God take that blog,~ um,~ from earning a hundred dollars a month to [00:21:00] earning more than my day job in nine months. And another six months after that, it was double.
And then the years that followed just continued to increase. And in hindsight, I have no doubt that had I gone down that path,~ uh,~ nothing. Yeah, we would've missed out on so much blessing. God wouldn't have been able to get us where we needed to go. ~Um, ~had we not obeyed him in that really, really difficult decision.
Oh my gosh. I mean, If that's not proof that God's plans are always better than anything we could imagine ourselves, if we'll just trust him and trust that. Mm-hmm. That direction enough to listen. I don't, I don't know what it's, yeah. It's just, that was so powerful for me and I've, I've just spent the last few episodes talking about creating passive or residual or leveraged income, which can kind of be a tricky subject even, especially in ~like ~the,~ um, you know, ~either network marketing or the,~ um, you know, ~even just the money space.
And what I love is you guys. Exemplify. What that definition ~is, ~is it is the hard work, the investment of your time, the wisdom, everything that's from him. ~You know, ~[00:22:00] it's like the parable of the talents, which I think you also talk about in the books. One of my favorite examples of that, it's like you're being good stewards of the little things that you're given, and that's where seed time, right?
That's where the name of your, your company came from, right? Is the ~is ~is it? Well, Genesis a 22. There'll always be seed time and harvest, but Yes. Yeah. Okay. But it's all, they're all connected. Yeah. Okay. I think I remember reading that at some point and I was like, oh, that's where they got it. That's right there.
Yeah. I couldn't remember where it was from,~ but,~ but anyway,~ it's,~ it's like you have to put in, ~you know, the, the, ~the. Hard work that you can be equipped through the work of the Holy Spirit in order to even think about reaping something like a passive income,~ um,~ over time. Yeah. And so I, I love that, you know, he showed up in such a big way with what seemed like such ~a little, ~a little thing at the time, but it's because, and I really,~ I,~ I think you guys exemplified this also, it's because you were uniquely gifted.
And equipped with those passions and purposes uniquely together to be able to partner and align together mm-hmm. In that specific medium, which is not for everybody. [00:23:00] Right? Mm-hmm. So how did you, how, how, I guess, did you,~ um,~ with all the things that you could do, how did you really kind of clear out the messaging of the world and really just listen to what the Lord was trying to tell you and equip you?
Like how, what's some practical advice from someone who's really seeking that right now in this moment? Yeah. What do you think? ~Um, ~well, I mean, I will say Bob and I process very differently. I want to talk to everyone I know and get their advice. I don't always take their advice. Most of the time I don't, I will, I, I will seek wisdom, but most of the time I just want, I need to say it out loud and hear what they have to say as more information to process myself.
Does that make sense? And Bob is the person that is like, I don't wanna tell anyone what's going on. I want to do this, I just wanna figure it out myself. But,~ uh,~ so I think for, for us, it, it definitely comes differently and I think that there's more options than just two [00:24:00] obviously. ~Um, ~but in that time, I think we had to just hold fast to our convictions and.
There were, like he said, his, his number one mentor at the time was telling him this is a bad idea, but you cannot put that over what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. Yeah. And it can be really hard, but I mean, if you, if you do have God in the number one position in your life, he's the one you're trying to make happy.
You know, he's the one that you're trying to please. So, When we, when we were doing this, it was like, you know, I would hear what people would say and it's like, okay, that's something that, something to think about. That's something to think about. And even,~ uh,~ you know, Bob did a really good job in that time, which a lot of people ask me like, how were you able to like, move past this, whatever.
Bob is super cautious and he wasn't just like, we're just gonna jump without a net. Like, we, we did the best we could with what we had to give ourselves, you know, kind of a. [00:25:00] Runway. A runway, right? To where it was like, if things are not working at this point in time, then we need to reevaluate what's going to happen.
So it wasn't just like, you're making all this money and then you have nothing. You know, it was like we, we, we had the gift of time to prepare upstate and yeah, we did as whatever we could do in the natural to kind of steward as best we could. But,~ um,~ at the end of the day, like you said, I think. Following the Holy Spirit and that leading that God has given you.
Mm-hmm. Always supersedes common wisdom of the day. Yeah. And like, if I don't have anything specifically from God, I follow wisdom, but, but in that case, like I needed to ignore the counsel of my mentor, you know? 'cause Yeah. God's voice should be louder in that case. It, it has to be another, another piece here that I think is important too, I was talking to somebody about this just the other day, is that, It's helpful for me to remember that it's God's responsibility to communicate with me rather than it being my responsibility [00:26:00] to hear.
Mm-hmm. And, and I think that's an important distinction because it's really easy to get caught up in, I'm trying to hear what God's saying and getting stressed out over that. And it's like, it's his responsibility, you know, we have to listen, like we have to be ready to listen. But, but at the end of the day, like we can trust that he is going to speak to us, that we are a sheep and that we know his voice.
~Um, ~And so that that takes some of the pressure off when you're in a situation where it's like, I gotta hear from God, I gotta hear from God. It's like you can just let go and you can trust as long as you're listening and not ignoring what he's trying to say to you. Right. That he's gonna get the message across, you know?
Well, and one of the things I wanna share just about that is, Like I, I watched this happen. It's kind of fun. I got to watch it from the outside happen in your life a little bit leading up to this where, you know, it, it is sometimes it's kind of like, well, how do I know what God is saying to me or whatever.
And you know, like you just talked about, it was like he was showing you what he was trying to tell you at the what, the fair example, but, The, the way to just start [00:27:00] learning about that is, I remember when Bob, okay, so this is way back in the day. We're showing our age here, whatever, I don't care. But remember when you could burn CDs?
This was like after the mix take, and you would make a mixed cd, right? So I remember we had, there was a group of friends, Bob and I were in a friend group where, you know, there was just a bunch of us and we'd be like, oh, you just got that new cd, burn me, copy, blah, blah, blah. I remember somebody trying to hand Bob a copy and he was kind of like, oh, no thanks, or no, maybe somebody asked him for a copy of one of his CDs and he bought it for them and they were like, you could just burn me a copy.
And he was like, oh, I just wanted you to have your own. But what was actually going on was he was saying, you know, if I burn my, these CDs for everybody I know, then that artist is not getting paid. And I, I remember it was like this moral dilemma for him where he was like, everyone is doing this. No one has seems to really have a problem with it, but he was getting conviction from the Holy Spirit about it, and it was something [00:28:00] so small that he could have easily dismissed, but instead he went with it.
I think just doing that one little thing kind of flipped a switch, not only for him being able to like hear the voice of the Lord in his life, but also in the way that he does things. And especially since we're talking about business, you know, especially in business for him, it's like I have watched him say no to things that everybody else is doing.
That makes sense and that nobody seems to really have a problem with until it gets to a certain point and then all of a sudden things start to change. And it's actually worked out as a benefit for our business because we decided to do it the hard way because the Lord was convicting us to do it a different way.
So, I just wanted to share that as, as a, as a way to just start to get into that. You know, like how do you know if the Lord is speaking? Just do the, the simple little thing that maybe no one else is doing and everybody else thinks is okay, but you're, you're hearing from the Lord going, [00:29:00] please don't do that.
Just do it. And then I think his voice gets louder and louder and louder. Oh yeah. It's wild as you're saying that, and I probably won't share the story just 'cause I, I don't wanna harm those that are in the story. But it's funny how you're saying that is that confirmation, even for me personally, with kind of a similar situation with providing and sharing tools and anyway, but it's just, it's kind of crazy.
That's a perfect, brilliant example of how listening to the Lord and the little things builds you confidence. And kind of strengthens that,~ um,~ you know, that muscle to be able to see him in the big things. And I think that's what it's is collectively. It's like those little,~ um,~ bouts of faith along the way and we're gonna get it wrong, I know a bunch of times, but those ~little, ~little, trusting him along the way, that leads to those ~big, ~big blessings that come not just financially in your life.
Gosh, you guys, we, we said this before we recorded. I'm like, I know I could probably talk to you guys like for six hours about this, but I would love, you [00:30:00] know, for you guys to share some of the resources because it is, I think you're exactly right that some people like myself, I need to be more like Bob, where I'm in this place where I know the Lord is.
Speaking to me right now, it's like loud and clear I've got, but it's so tempting to be able to, ~you know, ~I've got the income to invest in coaching, should I do that? Or ~you know, ~should I go buy this course or whatnot? And so some people might be like me where they really need to get really clear with him, but then other.
People might, ~you know, ~be really strong in their faith, but they need that clarity and they do need to seek counsel from biblical wisdom that you guys can really offer to them. So for people who are in that season where they need that example, you guys I know have some really great resources to be able to serve them.
So would you talk through some of the things, some free, some, you know, ~some, ~some great investment that you have,~ uh,~ for those who wanna learn a little bit more about this. Yeah, yeah. ~Uh, ~short answer, like that blog that we've talked about has been running since 2007, so there's tons of free content [email protected].
~Uh, ~[00:31:00] and,~ uh,~ outside of that, yes, we had the book, simple Money, rich Life that you talked about, where really we just dumped everything we could. ~Um, ~you know, like I think you described, what would you describe it? ~Uh, ~all in one playbook or something. Is that how you called it Heather Before? Yeah, I, yeah, something like that.
Yeah. ~Uh, ~yeah. Yeah. Can't recall. Yeah. So that was the goal, like how do we roll everything in so that,~ um,~ really to create a book, a money book for people who don't wanna read a money book and who, it's like, it's one book. You do everything that's in here and you're set up. You don't need to become a financial expert.
It's like, this is what you need to be financial, financially successful, even if you're not a financial expert, you know? Mm-hmm. So that book is great for that. And then the other,~ uh,~ main product that we have is our True Financial Freedom class, which is designed, um, for individuals or small groups or churches.
~Um, ~and so that's something that,~ uh, you know, ~our students have been loving,~ um,~ and has been going really, really well as well. So that's a great option for couples who just want to kind of watch the videos together or small groups or things like that. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I can definitely highly recommend the book and I, I just even felt the sort of [00:32:00] prompting, again, this is not the first time this has come up, but I would love to, to gift your book to,~ uh,~ five listeners that Oh, awesome.
Are listening. And ~so, ~'cause it really has blessed me so much. And ~so, um, ~definitely if you're listening to this and you wanna just screenshot it, you can, because you guys are on social media, right. That's something I have talked to lot about, but you guys are on social media. ~What, ~what,~ uh,~ where are you on Instagram?
It's at seed time. S e e d t i m e. Dang, that was a good, that was a good thing to land that, that's amazing you guys were able to sag that. But if you tag,~ um,~ at seed time and tag me as well, Heather k Burge,~ uh,~ on there. And ~if, ~if you do that and share it, I'll see it. And I would love to gift, you know, five of you who do that with this book and.
Definitely check it out. Definitely check out their podcast. I'll make sure to link all of these resources in the show notes as well, because there's so much goodness. And if you want more, I know we could talk all day, but you can binge away at the blog or the podcast and definitely, definitely get, yeah.
Yeah. [00:33:00] So that's awesome. I love that. Thank you guys so much for your time. Thank you. And we might have to do this again, you know, down the road. Yeah. We'd love to dive in. So if you have questions for Bob and Linda, definitely. ~Um, you know, ~let me know, reach out and if you guys wanna hear more from them,~ we'll,~ we'll have to do it again, but you guys are the best.
Anything you wanna say before we hop off you? Hmm. Final words. Final words. Well, I was gonna say about the book really fast. Yeah. You are an avid reader, which is really great, but for people who are not avid readers, I don't know everyone in your audience, but we, it's kind of a beach read. Would you agree?
A hundred percent? A hundred percent. ~It's, ~it's a quick one. It's definitely highly readable. It's not,~ um,~ intimidating. Yeah, and I told you I think before we started recording that for somebody like me who is definitely, I'm like, gimme all the books, gimme, you know, I'd like to listen to ~all of, ~all of the things.
~It, ~it was a comprehensive,~ um,~ you know, way to simplify the biblical aspects of money for sure. ~Um, ~but I think for those who are just getting [00:34:00] started in that, and maybe they aren't big readers or don't even know where to start, I think that's, it's the perfect resource for them for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah.
One other thing I'll add too is regardless of, you know, whether you get our book like doesn't really matter to us, we don't make any money off of it for a long, long time. Publisher gets all that, but. But the point is that we wanna see God move in your financial life. Mm-hmm. And my nudge, my encouragement to you would just be that,~ um,~ I spent so many years with this small box of what I thought was possible with God, just based on my upbringing, based on my circumstances or whatever.
And, and we all do this, we all put walls up of this is what's possible, and this is the world, this is how far it can expand based on my financial life, my expertise, my ~um, ~schooling, whatever. And it doesn't matter where we put those walls, they are,~ um,~ too small. Yeah. That's just what it comes down to.
They're too small for God, and God is able to do Ians three 20 exceedingly, above and beyond all we can ask, think, or even imagine. Mm-hmm. It says in the amplified [00:35:00] version more than we can even imagine. He's able to do exceedingly above that. And so when we put that in the context of our financial life, Like that is, you know, for us, that's me growing up in a middle class home, just feeling like I'm always going to be whatever, making $35,000 a year, driving an old car and having a car payment and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, like that.
That was my worldview that I thought, and I couldn't see past that. And God's like, well, what if I come in, invade your financial life and help you give away a million dollars? And it's like I, I couldn't even wrap my brain around that. But yet we've watched God do that. And so that is the thing that I think.
If I could stir anyone, encourage anyone, just,~ um,~ to remind you that your box is too small and God is able to do so much more. Mm-hmm. And wants to, wants to do so much more in your financial life. ~Uh, ~and I'll just leave it at that and, 'cause I, again, we could talk all day about this, but we could talk all day.
Yes. God's big, let's leave it at that. God's big. He, he's thank, thank the Lord for that. And again, for to be able to give [00:36:00] away a million dollars, you have to, Have Yeah. To give. Yeah. Gotta come in first. Yeah. That can be an example for those who are, you know, hesitant ~about, um,~ you know, what it looks like to actually earn all you can.
Right? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely check them out. You know, if you, if you wanna learn how to give all you can save all you can. Earn all you can and enjoy it all. 'cause it's, it, like I said, it's a, it's a ~great, um,~ great simple framework for that. So thank you guys again and I hope to stay in touch for sure. And thank you for the blessing of being able to share your stories today.
Yes. Thank you, Heather. Thanks for inviting us.
