Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Ryan Mack
Series Code: DAS
Program Code: DAS000018S
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00:01 What is money for?
00:02 Is it a helpful resource to use for good 00:05 or is the love of it the root of all evil? 00:08 Actually, it's both. 00:10 But God may have a different definition of success. 00:13 Real success doesn't come overnight. 00:16 It takes hard work and faithful planning. 00:20 To use your dollars well, 00:22 it takes more than a little sense. 00:27 Hello, and welcome to Dollars and Sense. 00:28 My name is Yvonne Lewis and I'm the co-host 00:31 for this program along with Ryan Mack, 00:34 who is our financial literacy expert. 00:36 And Ryan has been bringing it. This has been powerful. 00:41 These programs are powerful. 00:42 And today, we're going to talk about a subject 00:45 that's near and dear to me. 00:46 Absolutely. Family. 00:48 It's all about the family. I think that... 00:50 Well, the Family Empowerment Program, 00:53 we had designed it when I was living in Brooklyn. 00:56 And we will work with a lot of those 00:58 who are formally incarcerated, 00:59 and they were coming home from prison. 01:02 And we just said, you know what a lot of individuals 01:04 just don't have jobs, 01:06 they're trying to get employment, 01:08 how do we set up a network that assists them 01:11 to get integrated back into society more effectively? 01:14 And a group of us at a financial planning company 01:17 that I had at the time, we said, "You know what, 01:20 why don't we start putting their family together." 01:23 They're unemployed and, you know, 01:25 we should just figure out, 01:26 maybe they can have some resources 01:28 that they can share with them, so we started do it. 01:30 And next thing you know, the family 01:32 and the extended family, we put them together, 01:35 we gave some good conversations, 01:37 and people start to get employment. 01:39 I mean, not every single thing was successful, 01:41 but it was really a good time 01:43 because what we found out was that many people 01:45 within the family could really lean on 01:48 what another more than just that individual 01:49 who was formally incarcerated, 01:51 other people started getting assistance. 01:53 Businesses starting to get supported, 01:55 businesses starting to get created, 01:57 so it became a Family Empowerment Program. 01:59 So I said, "You know what, let's... 02:01 I want to dedicate this show 02:02 to the Family Empowerment Program 02:04 and if we have some time really get them some tips 02:06 for those are who are unemployed." 02:07 Good. 02:09 So really just talk about how it is. 02:10 So in the scripture, it talks about 02:12 family empowerment as well. 02:15 So we have 1 Timothy 5:8, that says, 02:19 "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, 02:22 and especially for members of his household, 02:25 he has denied the faith 02:28 and is worse than an unbeliever." 02:30 Wow. 02:31 So literally the scripture is saying that 02:33 it's our obligation to help out our family. 02:36 And I think that far too many times, 02:39 we as a society, 02:42 don't really look right next to us. 02:44 You know, how many times have, 02:45 you know, you have an amazing career, 02:48 but maybe some of your family members 02:49 just hadn't really recognized 02:51 that brain said, you've had because I mean, 02:54 I know it's true for me, I'm just little Ryan, 02:56 "Take out the trash." 02:58 You know, "Go get the trash boy." 03:01 And I'm like, "Well, wait a minute, 03:03 you know, I've done all this stuff. 03:04 Well, I can..." 03:06 And I'll just take out the trash, 03:07 you know, I don't mind. 03:08 But that's how family looks at us. 03:10 Yeah. You know... 03:11 So we have to learn that 03:12 there are valuable resources in each one of us. 03:17 How many family members do we have that 03:18 are going to prison or coming home? 03:21 How many youth do we have that are going to college 03:23 that we can get scholarships for? 03:24 How many businesses do we have 03:26 that we should be supporting or starting? 03:28 I mean, all of these things can be really brought out 03:32 and I have a Family Empowerment Program 03:34 is seven easy steps. 03:36 And I just wanted to go over it for the viewers out there. 03:38 I love it. Let's do it. 03:40 So the first step really is just a family call out. 03:43 You need to bring the family together. 03:46 The family... 03:47 What we do is you select a date 03:49 at least six months out that you would like to meet. 03:53 And again, you try... 03:55 Not everybody's going to be there, 03:57 you know, there's the beautiful part about technology 03:58 is that not everyone even needs to be there, 04:01 but if we can get together for family reunions, 04:04 if we can get together for funerals, 04:06 and birthdays and Christmas, 04:08 and all these days that are good days. 04:10 But, you know, we should be able to get together 04:12 to talk about shop. 04:15 You know, let's talk about empowerment of one another, 04:17 maybe you do it during Christmas time 04:19 because all your family is going to be in town anyway. 04:22 You know, you also could go to FreeConferenceCall.com. 04:26 Exactly. And get... 04:27 If you have family members all over the country, 04:30 you can call one number, it's all free. 04:33 With an access code and everybody's on the line 04:36 and you can get clear reception. 04:39 So you don't have to come together, 04:41 it's good if you can, 04:42 but it can't, that can be an excuse. 04:44 That's great, I mean, so you call people out 04:47 and the second step is select a date. 04:51 I think this is a hard time, I think you should have 04:53 maybe one or two people that plan it 04:54 because we know how families can get sometimes, 04:56 so many cooks in the kitchen, too many decisions, 04:58 everyone wants to have this decision. 05:01 You know, let me just back up to 05:03 and provide a step zero. 05:05 A step zero is we need to have prayer in this, 05:09 we need to really meditate on the Word of God 05:14 that is going to be successful because what happens is that 05:18 we've gotten so ingrained into not supporting one another, 05:22 we've gotten so accustomed to a certain way that 05:24 which we interact with one another 05:27 in order to interact in a different way 05:29 that's outside the scope of what we normally, 05:31 you know, "Ryan, take out the trash," 05:33 now all of a sudden becomes, "Ryan, help me form a business 05:37 or Ryan, can we work together to empower the community." 05:40 That's a different lane. Right. 05:42 And that's in many of our communities is rejected, 05:47 we reject something different, 05:48 we're only used to seeing people 05:50 for Thanksgiving to have a meal, 05:51 and then we go our separate ways. 05:54 And then God forbid something happens, 05:56 it's a funeral, we come together again. 05:58 So we have to just pray that we become all of us 06:01 become open to doing something more, 06:03 something greater, something different, 06:06 something outside of our lane of comfort 06:08 in which we're interacting with one another. 06:10 And once we are able to do that, 06:12 it's so many blessings that I believe 06:14 that we're leaving on the table by just simply not engaging 06:18 with one another in the most effective way. 06:20 And in this economy right now 06:22 with so many individuals who are unemployed... 06:24 I mean, employment rate is under 5%, 06:26 but we have a lot of individuals 06:28 who have one, two jobs. 06:30 And our jobs that are making way under that 06:31 what they would like to 06:33 or not even looking of work anymore, 06:34 they've dropped up the payroll. 06:35 So this economy, we need to start thinking differently. 06:39 And we're leaving things on the table 06:40 if we're not utilizing our families. 06:42 So call out your family, select a date as step two. 06:46 Step three is select an objective 06:49 and an unbiased moderator. 06:51 Someone who's probably not even in your family 06:54 so I was that moderator for many 06:57 and it really cut through a lot of the familiarity 07:00 because by me being there when I was like 07:02 I couldn't be the moderator for my family. 07:05 And I was able to get my family to do this 07:07 and it was tough. 07:09 We had a lot of individuals who were saying, 07:10 "I don't know, I don't wanna do it? 07:12 Why are we doing this?" 07:14 So I had to step out 07:15 and we had to get someone to come in 07:17 and say, "You know what, this person's job 07:20 is to help moderate the discussion." 07:22 And it's going to be a real discussion 07:24 this is not going to be a time for us to play games, 07:27 or talk, or be distracted. 07:29 The purpose of this is to have a very tangible meeting 07:33 with family to talk about real life issues 07:37 that our family is going through. 07:38 And when I lead the discussions for the other family members 07:41 because I was not familiar with them, 07:43 I mean, they didn't know me from Adam, 07:44 but other individual say, 07:46 "You know, we know this guy, we trust him." 07:49 And so I would help moderate the discussion, 07:51 we would ask various questions, 07:52 what we'll talk about in a second, 07:53 in a flow with just that much smoother. 07:57 So the fourth step is give the meeting 08:00 a professional structure, right? 08:02 I mean, there should be someone taking minutes of the meeting, 08:05 there should be a moderator giving rules of engagement 08:08 at the meeting, 08:10 they should be thinking about... 08:12 Like think about a board meeting 08:13 that you've attended previously, 08:15 and how that meeting was to actually run. 08:17 You know, you've been in board meetings 08:18 where, you know, if you're talking, 08:20 we have points of order, and we have discussions, 08:23 and we really bring up things in a very professional way. 08:26 And there's not too many people, 08:27 there's not more than one person talking 08:29 at any one time. 08:32 When that person has the floor, you know, a point, 08:34 you know, cousin John to be the sergeant-at-arms 08:37 because he's a big guy and if anybody starts talking, 08:40 you know, he keeps things in order. 08:43 So the fifth thing is we've got to start out... 08:46 Now this is important 08:47 we have to ask the right questions. 08:51 When we start asking questions, the questions are, right, 08:54 who in here needs a job? 08:58 And you look at the hands raised 09:01 and then you give each an opportunity to respond. 09:04 "Okay, you need a job, 09:06 what sort of job are you looking for? 09:09 What sort of job, you know..." 09:11 And that's each person response to that 09:13 so you ask the questions. 09:14 Step six is you let them respond to the questions. 09:17 "Okay, I need a job 09:19 and I'm looking for a job as a janitor." 09:22 Or, "I'm looking for a job as a teacher. 09:24 I'm looking for a job as..." 09:27 Whatever it is. 09:28 And then the second question is, 09:30 "Who in here has a connection 09:33 that can help this person find a job 09:36 in that location, in that area?" 09:38 And it becomes tangible. 09:41 Again, I know see, I can fill in the spirit right now 09:44 that there are people out there saying, 09:45 "That's never gonna work in my family," right? 09:47 "That's never gonna work in my family, 09:49 it can never work." 09:50 Well, guess what, you're right, okay? 09:52 Because you've already thought it's not going to work. 09:53 We've got to change our spirit, we've got to change 09:55 how we think and feel about family. 09:57 That I can promise you, there are families doing 09:59 something similar to this. 10:00 And it is successful, 10:01 it just didn't work in your family 10:03 because you haven't believed it's going to happen yet. 10:04 But through Christ, all things are possible. 10:06 So we have to just get that 10:07 negative spirit out of ourselves 10:11 and just to think it will happen, it can work. 10:14 And so as we're answering these questions who... 10:18 Another question which I ask is, 10:20 "What's... 10:21 Youth in here are under the age of 18 10:25 that want to go to school 10:26 that need to have a scholarship." 10:28 That we can assist to pay for school. 10:30 You know, we have a student that's 15, 16 years old, 10:34 but they don't know how to going go to school 10:35 so maybe we can start pulling funds 10:37 and putting money into five to nine college savings plans. 10:41 They might not have a scholarship. 10:43 We had started learning how to create 10:44 our own scholarships. 10:45 And we can do that with family funds, 10:47 I mean, maybe one individual who isn't... 10:50 they might not know that this elderly individual 10:52 who wants to bequeath some of her possessions 10:55 on to the next generation. 10:57 "You know what, I can donate 10:59 in some of my estate for educational expenses." 11:03 And they can do that according to a state rules 11:05 and it doesn't have to go account towards their gifts. 11:08 For education and medical expenses, 11:11 they can give to the next generation. 11:13 So we definitely have to start doing that. 11:15 Next question is, "Who has a business?" 11:18 And hands are raised 11:21 and then we have to follow up with it. 11:22 There is a step six follow up. 11:24 How can we support your business? 11:26 You know, there was a family that we were working with, 11:31 and in this family there was one woman 11:33 who was going through foreclosure, 11:36 and she had sold products in her spare time 11:40 and she was going through foreclosure, 11:42 she had lost her job, didn't have any income, 11:45 but when pulled the family together, 11:48 we were able to ask the various questions, 11:50 and I was moderating the discussion. 11:52 You know, we asked all the questions, 11:54 who had any children going that want scholarship, 11:56 actually there was one child that we helped them out. 11:59 And we got to the question of who's going to foreclose. 12:03 She said, "Well, I am." 12:05 I said, "Well, you have your own business." 12:08 And we are taking her products, and I knew that 12:11 there were other members of family 12:12 who were teachers. 12:14 So one particular member of the family, 12:15 she connected with the teacher 12:18 and sold her products in the teacher's lounge. 12:21 And that gave her... 12:23 In not only that teacher's lounge, 12:25 but other teachers and they started to get excited 12:29 because she was selling her wears. 12:30 And she said, "Wow, you know, this is really good." 12:33 And she was able to go to other schools. 12:36 And, I mean, it did a good job. Yeah. 12:39 I mean, I'm not saying it made her millionaire or anything, 12:42 but it made enough 12:43 where she was able to pay her bills. 12:45 She paid a mortgage and got up to date. 12:47 And that family support, that's what it took. 12:50 Yeah, exactly. That's what it took... 12:51 Family support and coming together. 12:53 And, you know, one of the things I love about 12:55 what you do, Ryan, is that you look at the big picture. 12:59 God has given you the ability to look at the big picture. 13:02 How can we... 13:03 What can we do to support ourselves, 13:07 our families, the unemployed all that? 13:10 How can we support them? 13:12 And that's one that I love that. 13:13 I love that. Right. 13:15 Well, we all have skills and talents 13:17 and in the process of using our skills and talents, 13:19 these skills and talents were not meant to be internal. 13:24 They're meant to be shared 13:25 and they're meant to be used to empower others. 13:29 So, you know, the step six is a follow-up 13:31 and then step seven is to select a nonprofit 13:37 in your community as a family that you want to support. 13:41 And you're talking about big picture, this is huge 13:44 because there's so much need 13:47 and there are many nonprofits in our communities 13:48 that are doing good work, 13:50 but they don't have the manpower to continue 13:52 or they don't have the money to continue. 13:54 You know, Dare to Dream, great ministry, 13:57 they can always use additional support. 13:59 People like the programs, 14:01 but can you go on your checkbook 14:02 and make a donation, right? 14:05 This is what, I mean, the work continues 14:08 because of Christ, 14:09 and Christ allows it to continue. 14:12 But Christ is also blessed others that I feel 14:14 that we're not really using Christ blessings 14:17 in the most effective way, 14:20 utilizing the gifts that we have in each other 14:23 so they turn around and bless other people. 14:25 And that's what the Family Empowerment Program 14:28 can do, it really brings people together, 14:31 and, you know, I mean, 14:32 how awesome would it be to have a family come together, 14:37 and, you know... 14:38 Let's just say, when I say family, 14:40 I'm not talking about just your husband and wife, 14:42 I'm talking about extended family too, 14:44 I am talking about your cousins, 14:45 and your cousins', cousins, cousins, 14:47 and the older, 14:48 and then maybe a couple of close friends 14:50 that are a really close family 14:51 that are always over your house all the time. 14:53 So really try to amass a lot of people, 14:55 how awesome would it be to have once a year, 14:58 and this family meeting 14:59 should happen at least once a year. 15:01 How awesome would it be for all that family 15:04 to go down to the local Salvation Army or something 15:08 and being the food pantry 15:10 and serving food and giving together? 15:13 And doing it as a family, 15:15 you are not just doing it individually, 15:16 you know, there's many individuals 15:17 within the family and some people say, 15:19 "Why do it? Well, does your family do it?" 15:20 The point is do it as a family. 15:23 And if you start bridging the bonds, 15:26 maybe that's the reason why many individuals believe that 15:28 this family can't work 'cause I have run into it, 15:30 what I found out is that people feel that 15:32 this cannot work because the connection 15:36 and the bond amongst the family has been weakened. 15:40 And our families and our communities 15:42 just don't interact with each other anymore. 15:45 And there's that this lack of interaction 15:47 is really stealing away the blessings 15:49 that God has within us as a family. 15:52 He created us as families for a reason 15:55 that we can have the support network. 15:57 Without their support network 15:59 and you people coming home from prison, 16:00 "I have nowhere to go." 16:02 I mean, I can't tell you how many guys 16:03 I've seen come home from prison, 16:05 and they just absolutely have no where to go. 16:08 If they had that support network around them, 16:11 maybe they might not have went to prison 16:13 in the first place. Right. 16:14 You know, so the family, I mean, 16:17 we talk about family values, 16:19 we have to start to return 16:21 to how can we strengthen this family 16:24 to use it for the greater good of what God wants us all to do 16:27 'cause and it really is, it's one of the few instances 16:30 where two plus two can equal five in the family 16:33 because of synergy. Right. 16:35 And then we get greater, we get supernatural power from family 16:39 where things that we could never have done before, 16:41 but we look at it as... 16:43 I think we take it for granted 16:44 because, "Oh, it's not really effective," 16:46 because your bond is just not strong. 16:48 So now I also have some tips for unemployed individuals. 16:51 Okay. 16:53 And these tips, very basic tips, 16:56 a 11 simple tips. 16:57 And now there's a lot of folks out there 16:59 who could be unemployed, and these are financial tips 17:02 that kind of just help you get through, 17:04 you know, I've always believed that, 17:07 you know, we have to believe, we have to have faith, 17:10 we have to have a positive mindset 17:13 and so that will be step zero before we even... 17:16 As we're unemployed, we have to make sure that 17:19 we're praying up. 17:21 That we're receiving the message from God 17:25 because maybe God wants you in that particular position 17:27 but you have to hear Him at that time. 17:31 And then we have a lot of folks out here, 17:33 long term unemployed who... 17:35 Quick story of my brother, 17:37 he was just unemployed recently. 17:39 And, you know, you looking at a family man, 17:42 he had a wife, a child, you know. 17:44 And he was unemployed and he was going unemployed 17:47 for maybe seven, eight months. 17:49 Wow, seven or eight months 17:50 that had to be so hard on everybody. 17:52 Absolutely, so we stay prayed up, 17:55 and he stayed prayed up, but you know 17:58 what got him through it was the Bible. 18:01 Why? 18:02 Because he stayed on the biblical principles of saving. 18:05 He never missed a bill. He never missed a single bill. 18:09 He had enough savings. 18:10 And even said, he said, "Ryan..." 18:12 Because, I mean, I helped him with his is savings. 18:13 So we... 18:14 I helped all my family out but I didn't spend any money 18:18 but we put together budgets 18:20 and we talked about certain things 18:21 and they go by a budget every single week. 18:25 So they never missed a bill. 18:27 Right now, he just got a job two weeks ago. 18:30 Praise God. Praise God. 18:32 And we were concerned, I was concerned, 18:35 and he said he wasn't. 18:37 He wasn't concerned at all, he said, 18:38 "I had about six months more savings." 18:39 Wow. So, you know, and he said... 18:43 This is amazing thing when you look at 18:44 all these principles come into real life. 18:47 So, I mean, you know, God works. 18:50 He works. 18:51 In instance, in all instances, God works. 18:54 He used these principles 18:57 and again, he got six months more of savings. 18:59 So I have 11 tips that 19:02 I think my brother actually used. 19:06 But he didn't per se used these tips, 19:08 but he did have... 19:11 A lot of these things he did and he went out there. 19:14 So the first thing is after he stayed prayed up, 19:16 I mean, he was on that altar every week. 19:19 Yeah, yeah. You know... 19:20 So the first one is get rid of foolish pride. 19:24 You know, one thing he did, he asked his friends. 19:27 You know, a lot of individuals when they get unemployed, 19:29 they don't want to talk to their friends, 19:30 they don't want to talk, 19:32 they're too embarrassed, they're too ashamed. 19:34 So he was asking, he said, 19:36 "Look, I'm out of work, if you have any connections, 19:38 if you have any leads, let me know. 19:40 If you know of anything, let me know." 19:42 So a lot of individuals... 19:45 Because of that, his network, your network is more prone 19:48 to give you a lead, a job lead than anybody else 19:51 because they know you, they trust you, 19:52 they love you, they want to support you. 19:55 So by you being unemployed... 19:57 And, again, he asked his family, you know, 20:00 and I was out there trying to get leads for him 20:02 and see what I could do to connect with them 20:04 and connect them to different people that I know. 20:06 So the second thing we have to do 20:09 is file for benefits, you know, if we're eligible, 20:13 you know, we should be filing for these benefits. 20:15 Especially, you have a child, you want to make sure 20:18 you can use all you can to continue to be active, 20:21 file for those benefits. 20:23 The second one is, if you need to join the ranks 20:26 of the under-employed. 20:28 Now in my brother's case, 20:30 he actually had enough savings where he could... 20:34 Again, what another tip would be 20:36 made his job searching a full-time job, 20:39 but he had signed up to be a substitute teacher. 20:43 So he has his master's. 20:45 And so literally, he had already started, 20:47 he was in maybe about three or four weeks 20:49 into going to school as a substitute teacher. 20:53 And, you know, making maybe $100, $200 a day, 20:56 you know, something in that nature 20:57 but that's a little bit more better than nothing. 21:00 Absolutely. 21:02 So that went to make sure within household. 21:05 The second one was get cheap. 21:07 You know, every single dollar counts, 21:09 we have to budget, we have to be mindful 21:11 of how much we're spending. 21:13 He did that. 21:14 They really made sure they buckle down 21:16 on the expenditures, on the going out, 21:19 as opposed to going out for dinner, 21:22 they stayed home for dinner, and they cooked a lot at home, 21:26 and they had a lot more family times at home. 21:28 When they would host individuals, 21:29 they would do potlucks. 21:31 So other individuals would cook and bring the foods 21:33 so they wouldn't have to just do it. 21:34 So but they still were able to have fun 21:36 and their friends and everybody, they came over. 21:39 So it's almost like they found very inexpensive way 21:43 or next of freeway to continue to have fun. 21:47 They made job, searching a job, he got up every single day. 21:50 And that's tip number five. 21:53 Every single day, he will get on the computer 21:55 and just search, send out resumes, 21:56 and this is the type of thing you have to do 21:58 especially now the internet is a blessing 22:01 and a curse because at the same time, 22:05 it's easy for you to be to get out there, 22:07 but at the same time, everybody else 22:08 gets out there as well. 22:10 Right. 22:11 So you just have to be diligent and just stay 22:14 and use every single avenue, every single connection, 22:16 every single resource. 22:17 Six, stay healthy. 22:19 Being healthy keeps your mind say, 22:21 as you know keep your mind fresh, 22:23 keeps you going, keeps you excited, 22:25 that's tip number six. 22:26 I mean, he still worked out every day, 22:28 he still continued to try to just be... 22:30 And it keeps his mind fresh, 22:32 and whenever you're interviewing, 22:34 you don't to be all groggy and down. 22:36 Right. Get out of it. 22:38 So he was going in a lot of interviews 22:40 after a while of searching so that kept him fresh. 22:44 Number seven, don't touch a 401(k) plan 22:46 if you can't help it. 22:47 If you touch a 401(k) plan, 22:49 what happens is that you get penalized. 22:50 Right. 22:52 And after that penalty, 22:54 you know, when you take your money out, 22:55 again, this is all if you can help it 22:56 because I can definitely understand 22:58 if you are unemployed 23:00 and you've been out for a long time, 23:02 you might have to start tapping into it. 23:04 I mean, but use that as a last-ditch effort like 23:07 that's not, don't that be the first thing. 23:11 Number eight, investing is not a priority, 23:14 you know, because again, you're unemployed, 23:16 you don't have any capital right now. 23:17 Right. 23:19 Any additional money that you even have 23:20 should not be going into stocks at this moment. 23:22 So just be real cautious and don't liquidate your stocks 23:28 right now if you can help it. 23:30 Again, I definitely understand, 23:31 I mean, when I started my business 23:34 and I own stock at the time and I had to liquidate, 23:38 and that stock essentially had to be 23:40 a huge part of starting my business. 23:43 So, you know, but it was a last-ditch effort, 23:45 it was when everything else was out. 23:47 "Hey, you know what, I need this money, 23:50 I need to put in my business 23:51 otherwise I'm not gonna be able to pay my rent, 23:52 so we did that." 23:55 Number nine, decide which bills to pay. 23:58 I can definitely understand you're unemployed, 24:00 prioritize your bills. 24:02 Well, again, when I started my business, 24:04 I was I knew that my rent was always going to get paid. 24:08 But sometimes the light bill, hey, I mean, I just, you know, 24:12 what am I supposed to do, so I had to skip it out. 24:15 I had to skip out on it. 24:17 Maybe a couple of months for the heat bill. 24:19 You know, "I ain't got it, you know, 24:22 what am I supposed to do?" 24:24 I mean, obviously caught back up 24:28 and things turned around, praise God, 24:30 but you had to decide, you had to prioritize. 24:33 I knew that I had to keep a roof over my head though. 24:35 Right. 24:36 So in those situations, you need to prioritize 24:38 and we all go through those tough times 24:40 and we have to make those tough decisions. 24:44 Number ten, you know, don't get suckered 24:47 by any financial offers that come in. 24:50 You know, a lot of times those fast money schemes 24:53 will become a whole lot more attractive to you now. 24:57 You know, nothing against... 24:58 Anybody out there that is doing multi-level marketing, 25:00 I know a lot of folks that do a multi-level marketing, 25:04 but if it's not in your passion, 25:06 if it's not what God ordained it for you to do, 25:08 it's not gonna be successful, period. 25:10 And that's with any business whether it be 25:11 a multi-level marketing or any other business venture. 25:14 So lot of times, if you're unemployed, 25:15 that multi-level marketing you could like, 25:17 "Oh, wow, you know, I can make a lot of money." 25:19 So they ask you to invest a lot of money, 25:21 you're not passionate about it therefore you just wasted it 25:23 and that's supposed to going to generate or something else. 25:25 That's critical. 25:27 And then 11, just like that step zero, have faith. 25:31 You got to stay prayed up, we have to stay delegate, 25:34 we have to stay working but again, faith, 25:37 if it's a mathematical equation, 25:39 half belief, half acting on that belief, 25:41 we put those two together, and we have a lot of faith. 25:44 And I think if we do these things 25:45 and we keep it consistent 25:47 and involve family in that job search, 25:49 things are going to come together. 25:51 And I believe that 25:52 because I believe in God, right? 25:54 So and that's what allows me to say, 25:56 it's going to happen for you and for everybody else 25:59 that believe in Christ 26:01 it's going to happen, you just can't quit. 26:04 If you quit, there's no other options for you. 26:05 And during that time, God can be working on you. 26:09 He can be helping to define your purpose 26:13 or to shed a light on your purpose, 26:16 so it's all part of the plan just hold on to the Lord. 26:19 Absolutely. 26:21 Well, speaking of holding on, 26:22 we got to hold on to your takeaway. 26:23 All right, absolutely. I look forward to it. 26:25 All right, good. 26:31 True empowerment doesn't come from government. 26:33 It comes from Jesus Christ. 26:34 And we must invite Him in each one of us, 26:37 not to say government doesn't have a role, 26:38 it certainly does. 26:40 However, the strongest role for economic recovery 26:43 comes within the household across the country 26:45 is that the each one of us to determine 26:47 how to use our skills, maximize our talents, 26:50 and fully recognize and implement 26:51 the resources in our communities 26:53 to move ourselves forward economically. 26:55 One of the most precious 26:57 and unutilized resources is the family, 26:59 those people who'd together cry at funerals, 27:01 rejoice at weddings, celebrate birthdays, 27:04 step themselves at holidays, and reminisce at reunions. 27:07 The family for many is a place to find solace 27:09 from the tough economic challenges of society. 27:12 After going through stressful times, 27:14 there is nothing better for me 27:15 than it take a trip back to my hometown, 27:17 Detroit, Michigan where all are familiar. 27:20 However, if we only look at the family for shelter, 27:23 we're missing the mark. 27:24 This familiarity has with it enormous economic potential 27:27 in the world where love, trust, dedication towards one another, 27:31 and sensitivity can be void, 27:33 these traits are more likely to be found in your own family. 27:36 However, we must maximize its potential 27:39 and take full advantage of the Family Empowerment Program. 27:42 We at Dollars and Sense want to know 27:43 if you've tried this program, 27:44 we want to hear about your results. 27:46 If you have any questions email me 27:47 at dollarsandsense@3abn.org and chat with us 27:51 on our Dare to Dream Network Facebook page. 27:53 As always, be the change. 27:55 Remember the purpose of life is a life full of purpose. 27:58 Be blessed. |
Revised 2021-05-20