SOW Blog

Walking in God’s Favor: I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. Genesis 12:2

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

One of our shared financial goals after coordinating a Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class for our church was to take a cruise to the Bahamas when we eliminated all our debts. We were able to pay off over $70,000 in debt in 48 months practicing biblical financial principles in our everyday lives. We did it and you can do it! It feels amazing to live debt free.

Living a  life of surplus is a great place to be. Ardella and I have journeyed through the process of learning how to put our faith in God and not the blessings He provides..ie (Wealth, Education, Career, Social Capital and Good Health)

Greatness is a lot of small steps taken everyday.

We have discovered how to walk in faith when experiencing life’s struggles and the storms of life. Faith is the ability to walk past your current reality, while anticipating a fabulous future.

To walk in God’s favor you must develop the inner discipline it takes to delay immediate gratification by surrendering lordship of your life to God. The faithful stewards can say “no” to the person in the mirror and “yes” to the will of God. Faithful stewards first seek and desire God’s blessings to shower down over their lives.

Surround Yourself With People Who Will Push You to Greatness.

Ardella and I have learned how to wisely look around the corner and plan for the storms of life or 5D’s (Disaster, Disability, Downsizing, Deployment and Death). We openly share how to prepare for the storms of life  or the 5D’s with our family, friends and meaningful others in our community.

Ardella and I acknowledge that it has been God who has brought us financially to this point in our lives, and we remember where we were in the years past.  Our daily prayer is ” O Mighty God, teach us to be Your faithful servants”.  We encourage you to live faithful to God and to walk in His favor. Your life can become a great example in your world of what a Mighty God can do in the lives of His people.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord teach us to walk in your favor.

Michael J. Vance is a financial & benefit risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency  and founder of Stewardshipofwealth.com  Ardella Vance volunteers her time, talents, and financial resources to causes she is passionate about. She is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinder Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vances have been married over 4 decades and share their lives with four adult children and ten exceptional grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog from their workbook “Stewardship of Wealth”.

Walking in God’s Favor: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

Trust Takes Years to Build, Seconds to Destroy, and Forever to Repair

In our society people will take advantage of your trust. They will scheme, swindle and fraudulently go after your wealth. People like Bernard Madoff, who perpetrated over a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme have made money their God. They have no problem ripping you off, if it puts money into their pockets. They knowingly take advantage of their influence, power, and wealth.

Mistakes Are Forgivable If One Has the Courage to Admit Them

Level 4 Stewards practice the spiritual principle of forgiveness.  They have personally experienced the transformational power of forgiveness in their own lives and extend that kind of forgiveness to others.  When someone takes advantage of you, your faith can restore your loss in many ways.

Forgiveness Does Not Change the Past, But it Does Enlarge the Future

Forgiveness is not an option for the Level 4 Steward. They extend grace to others, learn from the experience and move on with their life’s mission. You can only experience this kind of forgiveness when you are connected to the Source of forgiveness. We will close this post with a quote from Billy Graham “Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.”

Save the date. You are personally invited to our live stream with our SOW Team as we share online financial tools, community resources and tips to avoid financial scams.

Prayer of Blessings: Lord teach us to forgive.

Michael J. Vance is the co-host of the podcast Better Husband Father Man hub for all things; parenting, marriage, and self-improvement. He is a financial & benefit risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency  Ardella Vance volunteers her time, talents, and financial resources to causes she is passionate about. She is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the International Pathfinder Club a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vance’s have been married well over 4 decades and share their lives with four adult children and ten exceptional grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog from their workbook “Stewardship of Wealth”.

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Walking in God’s Favor: I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. Psalms 32:8 TLB

Reaching Your Highest Potential

What a powerful bible promise to know that God says he will show us how to get to the next level. God promises to watch over us, to teach us and advise us.

The truth is, we all have areas in our lives that we need to grow in. Your area of growth is probably different from my area of growth. You must truthfully acknowledge your area of weakness and face it.

Be Intentional With Your Time

My personal truth (Michael) is I consume far too much time watching TV and on the internet.  After reading Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Drive Life ” I was motivated to initiate 3 immediate changes in my life.

1. I  would begin to limit the amount of television and internet media I consume.

2. I would spend the best time of my day in prayer.

3. I would release my spiritual side.

My purpose was to seek the highest potential for my life. It has made an incredible difference. After making these 3 seemingly small changes I have been motivated to write this blog and several other books with Ardella. Our purpose is to share the goodness of God in our lives with family, meaningful others and our community.  I now choose to invest my time and develop my talents wisely.

Make Excellence Your Goal

Level 4 Stewards are willing to do whatever it takes reach their highest potential. Are you willing to do your part. Yes you have an extremely important role in your spiritual discovery.  You are called for a moment like this in time. You are given unique gifts to develop over your lifetime and you have a  purpose that you have the potential to fulfill.

Prayer of Blessings: Lord, help us defeat temptations that consume our time.

Michael J. Vance is the co-host of a podcast Better Husband Father Man hub for all things; parenting, marriage, and self-improvement. He is a financial & benefit risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency   Ardella Vance volunteers her time, talents, and financial resources to causes she is passionate about. She is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinder Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vances have been married four decades and share their lives with four adult children and ten exceptional grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog from their workbook “Stewardship of Wealth”.

Walking In God’s Favor: Romans 13:8 Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. (MSG)

It’s better to go to bed in peace, than to wake up in debt & broke.

We believe overcoming financial bondage is one of the greatest struggles for anyone seeking financial freedom. Many of you only dream of saving money. In many instances you do not experience financial health because you are trying to borrow yourself into wealth. You want to look rich to cover your raggedness. You desire to appear prosperous to hide your poverty. You feel that wealth can heal your wounded-ness.

Many of you do not see anything wrong with living in debt. The more I can borrow the better. I didn’t either at first; just like the story of the frog. I’m told if you put a frog in a pot of water on a stove with no lid, and gradually turn up the heat, the frog will remain in the pot until it is cooked alive, even though the frog has the ability to easily jump out of the pot at any time.

We Believe Freedom From Debt Is Worth Any Amount You Can Earn

Initially I felt debt was a good thing; just a financial tool. It allowed me to obtain things I felt I needed  now and I could pay for it later….WOW! That sounded like a good deal… Just like when the serpent lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve if she ate of the tree of good and evil she would not “surely die”. Listen to me people, if you play with snakes you will get bitten.

Debt has been successfully marketed by banks and financial institutions in the United States as your pathway to prosperity. As a result, many of you have found yourselves in financial bondage with little or no hope of ever experiencing financial freedom again.

Every time you borrow money, you’re robbing your future legacy

If you are in bondage because of debt, your first step into financial freedom is to admit your finances are out of control. If you continue to live in denial, you won’t seek help and you won’t break free.  The Bible says that “the borrower is slave to the lender”. Ask God, in prayer, for the power  to break break free of  debt. With God, and a made up mind, you can experience financial freedom.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord, help me to become wise with money.

Michael J. Vance is the co-host of a podcast Better Husband Father Man hub for all things; parenting, marriage, and self-improvement. He is a financial & benefit risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency   Ardella Vance volunteers her time, talents, and financial resources to causes she is passionate about. She is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinder Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vances have been married four decades and share their lives with four adult children and ten exceptional grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog from their workbook “Stewardship of Wealth”.

Walking in God’s Favor: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth and be in health. III John 1:2 KJ

Finding Your “Why”

In his book titled The Reallionaire , Farah Gray, a young African-American man who went from public assistance to become a millionaire by the age of 14, says a reallionaire (a word he created) is someone who has discovered that there is more to money than having money. Understanding that stewardship of wealth is not just about being rich in your pocket-book, but realizing you have to be rich inside too.

I believe and agree with Farah Gray that wealth starts on the inside with a certain way of thinking. It begins with the belief system that governs how we relate to money. There are certain ways of thinking that can help you increase your financial wealth.

Three Steps to Financial Wealth

The first way of thinking is to stop trying to act rich. ” Live Within Your Means.” Living to impress others will only cost you. In the long run trying to keep up with the Jones will eventually result in financial pain and bring you down. Some people who appear to be living prosperous lives, in many instances are in debt up to their eyes balls and have mortgaged their future.

The second way of thinking is to start living on a budget. Spend your money on paper and on purpose before the month begins. Give your money a mission. If you dream of becoming wealthy, create a financial plan to get there. Write it down and look at it often. Remember a dream without a plan is just a hallucination.

The third and final way of thinking that can help you increase your financial wealth is to start counting your blessings. You are wonderfully made in God’s image. If you have life and health, you are blessed. If you have a family and friends, you are blessed. If you have a personal relationship with Christ, you truly are blessed. Learn to be thankful for what you have right now.

Until You Give Your Best, You Will Never Know Your Potential

How we plan for our future, take advantage of opportunities and how we spend our money all begin inside with our thinking. What do you want to become? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to obtain? Remember, our thoughts direct our actions or inaction. You have the ability to become a better steward of your wealth.

Prayer of Blessing: Lord help us to become wise stewards of our time, talents & money.

Michael J. Vance is the co-host of Better Husband Father Man Podcast and the financial & benefits risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates. Ardella Vance is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinders Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vance’s have been married four decades and share their lives with four adult children and 10 grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook” The Stewardship of Wealth “.

Walking In God’s Favor: Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to Him and what is perfect. Romans 12:2 NCV

Continuous Optimization, Always Keep Learning

We are so happy to celebrate Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency Internship Initiative. We provides resources to college and high school students to help them succeed in their education and career journey. www.battsandassoc.com

Those Who Keep Learning, Will Keep Growing In Life 

Ardella and I have posted the wisdom and insights we have learned from our journey of becoming the best version of ourselves in 2023. Our Stewardshipofwealth.com team is committed to playing a significant role in encouraging you to grow in areas of your life that need confirmation and clarity.

Here are some suggested readings to empower you in that process of becoming a better steward of your wealth and the best version of yourself.

1. Go Do Your Something – Lamont Dupree

2. Family Prayer: Your Fortune Is In Your Faith – Michael& Ardella Vance

3.  Wealth – It’s in Your Worship Not Your Works – Roland J. Hill

4.  Spiritual Game Plans For A Successful Life – Preston Brown

5. Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey

6. Stewardship Of Wealth – Changing Your Family Tree – Michael & Ardella Vance

7. 80 Proven Ways to Become a Millionaire – Paul  S. Damazo

8. Taking Care of Business – Lee Jenkins

9. Debt Free  Degree – Anthony O’Neil

10. 12 Week Year – Brian Moran

11.  Power to Get Wealth: No Money Required – Keith Douglas

12.  5am With God – Keaires Roberson

Prayer of Blessing:  Lord, we thank You for the desire to grow.

Michael J. Vance is the co-host of the Better Husband Father Man Podcast  a hub for all things parenting, marriage, and self improvement. He is a financial & benefit risk manager for Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency   Ardella Vance is  a gifted educator and  a Master Guide in the Pathfinders Club a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people.  The Vance’s have been married well over 30 years and share their lives with four adult children and ten grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville, Alabama and blog weekly from their financial workbook ” The Stewardship of Wealth“.