September 24, 2025 • 27 mins
What happens when we surrender our finances to God? Author and ministry leader Heather Day reveals transformative insights about breaking free from financial bondage through spiritual alignment.
Heather brings over 20 years of experience working with Christian ministries to this conversation, sharing how her personal journey through financial struggles led to profound spiritual revelations. Drawing from her book "Money and Spirit: Surrendering Our Finances to the Holy Spirit," she reveals how a parking lot prayer during a financial crisis became a turning point that completely changed her relationship with money.
The discussion goes beyond typical financial advice, exploring why Christians often struggle with money despite their faith. Heather unpacks how we frequently use money as a substitute for love, control, peace, and comfort—all things God intended to provide. She challenges the church's tendency to avoid financial discussions despite Jesus frequently addressing money matters, pointing out how this silence keeps many believers trapped in unnecessary financial bondage.
Through powerful personal stories—from her battle with postpartum depression to witnessing her parents' unwavering faith during serious health challenges—Heather demonstrates how authenticity breaks down barriers and creates space for genuine ministry. She emphasizes that financial freedom isn't about wealth accumulation but finding peace regardless of circumstances by recognizing God's ownership of everything.
Whether you're drowning in debt, struggling with unhealthy financial habits, or simply seeking a more spiritually aligned approach to money, Heather's insights offer a refreshing perspective that combines practical wisdom with spiritual depth. Discover how surrendering your finances to the Holy Spirit can transform not just your bank account, but your entire approach to life, bringing the fruits of love, joy, peace, and self-control into your financial journey.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello everyone, thank you again for joining me on
another episode of the DorsuShow.
Today we have a special guestwith us.
Her name is Heather Day.
She is an author and ministryleader with over 20 years of
experience in marketingcommunications and non-profit
(00:36):
ministry.
Haley's marketing for BarnabasFoundation was writing
consultation to over 200Christian ministries.
Her book Money and SpiritSurrounding Our Finances to the
Holy Spirit explores financialstewardship.
She's written content for over200 non including Christian
(01:02):
Leadership Alliances, outcomesmagazine, the University Today
and Olivia the Magazine.
Heather blogs about life,motherhood, marriage and
faith-led leadership atHeatherDaynet.
A communications and executiveMBA graduate from LA Nazarene
(01:27):
University, heather currentlyleads marketing communications
for LA Nazarene University andLeague-like cases.
She resides in Illinois withher husband, robert and their
children, emma and Jackson.
Heather actively participatesin her local church as a member,
(01:48):
board member and volunteerleader.
Heather, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Dorsey, thank you for having me.
Pleasure to be here, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Well, I'd like to open up with an icebreaker
question.
Today's icebreaker question iswhat's your favorite movie and
why?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh, my favorite movie .
So my favorite movie of alltime is the Parent Trap, the
original one with Hayley Mills,and Hayley Mills which is
playing her own twin.
I've watched that dozens oftimes in my lifetime and it's
just a sweet movie and bringsback memories of my childhood of
watching it and it just makesme happy.
(02:29):
I love watching it, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Tell us about your first journey and how you've
grown in your walk with Christover the years.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, so I was blessed to grow up in a
Christian household.
My dad is a pastor and my momalso has been in ministry roles
right alongside him from thevery beginning, so I knew Jesus
as a young child.
I don't remember a day when Ididn't know of the love of Jesus
in my life.
When I was around eight yearsold I asked him to be my savior
(03:02):
and from that point I felt acall to ministry.
I didn't know exactly what thatlooked like, but in my young
girl heart I thought I would bea missionary and I pictured I'd
be over in another country doingsomething crazy for the Lord.
And over time I came to realizethrough my college experience
(03:25):
that God had given me gifts,specifically in the field of
communication.
I see how he has used that.
I'm able to work with lots ofChristian ministries and I have
come to realize that God equipsus for the areas where he leads
us, that he continues to opendoors, and ministry is really
just about being availablewherever he takes us.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Right.
Can you share a pivotal momentthat deeply impacted your faith
learning.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah Gosh, there are so many, it's hard to isolate it
down to one.
I know that in the last fewyears in particular, my parents
have gone through a lot ofhealth struggles and I have
observed both of them, but mydad in particular.
On the really hard days wherehe was in pain and feeling
(04:20):
lonely and just where thingsreally looked dark, he continued
to shine the love of Jesus tothe nurses in his hospital room
and God continued to minister tohim, and I just took great
inspiration from that.
I'm not, I'm just realizing, um, god is walking beside us on
the days that are hard, andthere is no moment, no matter
(04:43):
what we're going through, thatGod can't turn around and use it
to minister in the lives ofothers.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Amen.
How have you seen and you justmentioned a couple one of them
there, but how have you seen Godwork through the struggles of
your life?
The ministry, whatever you wantto talk about?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, I have.
So over the years, you know, ofcourse, like anyone else, I have
faced a number of struggles,both in my personal life and
with my family, whether it'sbeen health-related issues or
financial struggles.
Or there were times where therewas a time, at one point, where
(05:25):
I lost a job and just felt likereally was reeling around
figuring out my identity andwhat's next and what is my
contribution to this world, andI found that it was often in the
darkest times where I sensedGod's presence the most.
It was often in the darkesttimes where I sensed God's
presence the most, and sometimesthat looked like just being
aware of his peace and comfortin those moments.
(05:46):
That was unexplainable, but italso came in the form of his
people that just were obedientand ministered to me in ways and
said things to me that theydidn't even realize the
significance of what they weresaying at the time, but I knew
that it was.
I've heard somebody call it aGod wink.
That God was, you know, showingup in my life and working
(06:07):
through the people and hispeople that just were obedient
to minister to me in my time ofneed.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Tell us about some of the writings that you have done
, especially the personalstories, authenticity that you
write about, and why is that soimportant to you?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I think that actually , one of the things that I have
dealt with personally is aftermy first child was born, I went
through postpartum depression.
After my first child was born,I went through postpartum
depression and I think that oneof the things that was the
hardest at that moment wasfeeling like I was all alone and
that I was unique in mystruggle and that nobody could
(06:47):
understand.
And I remember how freeing itwas when I finally had the
courage to talk about it with aclose friend and she experienced
that she had gone through thattoo in her life and I realized
that, like, sometimes we're socareful to guard pain and our
struggles that we don't, um, wearen't able to process that with
other people, but also we'recheating uh, cheating others of
(07:10):
the opportunity to minister tothem.
The more real we can be and themore that we could talk about
our stories and how we've seenGod at work in our lives, the
more like people connect withstories.
People connect with real.
You know, on my, on my blog andin my book I tell stories that
are sometimes not veryflattering of myself, where I
just admit you know silly thingsthat I've done or things that
(07:31):
weren't you know kind ofboneheaded decisions.
But, but I really, but in thoseways, when we're authentic, it
breaks down walls where otherpeople feel like they can be
safe and talk with you as well.
When we put up a guard where wepretend we've got it all
together, that we knoweverything we need to know, it
makes people more apprehensiveabout being real with us.
So authenticity breaks downthose walls and ministers in a
(07:54):
way that fakeness just can't.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I think how did you get involved with writing, but
also with the financial aspectof your writing as well?
How did you combine the two ofthose together?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, so writing has been something that I've done
since I was a little girl.
Of course it looked completelydifferent, but I just always
love to tell stories and writethose kind of things and, as I
said, I had ideas of how Godmight use me, but I realized
that he planted those loves andskills early in my life, that I
could start using writing for mywork.
So over time I've written abouta lot of different things.
(08:32):
I've written content aboutorganizations, but about three
years ago I worked for anorganization called Barnabas
Foundation and we startedtalking and praying about how we
could serve churches andChristians more effectively.
And one of the things that wetalked about was how people are
(08:52):
often in financial bondage.
Where they are just, they'reconsumed, whether it's through
debt or whether they're agreedor just worry and fears that
there are lots of people underthe bondage of money.
And that resonated with mypersonal story, because I
remembered a time early in mymarriage with my husband where
(09:15):
we were just.
We were up to our eyeballs indebt and were overwhelmed and
didn't know what to do, and wehad this really profound moment
in the parking lot of arestaurant where we just came to
a head and we prayed.
You know, god, we've made amess of things, we don't know
what to.
Can you help us out?
And we literally walked intorestaurant and and, um, and a
(09:39):
friend of mine was there andtalked about how he had just
come from a financial peace uhworkshop and how it was the best
thing he'd ever done.
And it was just this crazymoment of like surrendering what
was overwhelming us andsurrendering it to God and
watching how he not only caredabout it but put a solution
right in front of us.
And it wasn't like thingschanged overnight.
(10:02):
We had to do a lot of hard workand be faithful in the small
things and go back to the basics, but we found that by
surrendering our worries andwhat was holding us bondage, by
surrendering that to God, hecould work in our lives.
So that was really the genesisof this book, was just this
(10:24):
thought of like what does itlook like to surrender our
finances to the work of the HolySpirit and see what he might do
through that?
So that's really what the bookis about.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Why do you think so many, especially us as
Christians?
Why do you think we strugglewith money and you know dealing
with, you know whatever it be,you know, like you said, greed
or debt and whatnot.
Why do you think we deal withit so much?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I think it deals.
It's a symptom of our nature tohave misplaced priorities and
try to replace what God is therefor, replace it with things and
with objects.
And so we look at like money.
We use it as to fill the voidof a lack of a love or affection
(11:11):
in our life.
We try to buy those things, orwe want to have greater control
in our life.
Try to buy those things, or wewant to have greater control in
our life, so we want to amassmoney to make sure that we're in
control of things.
We want to have peace, so westart stockpiling things.
And money was never meant to beour source of love or joy,
peace or comfort or control.
(11:32):
Those are all things that Godwants.
And so we struggle because wealways have that battle within
ourselves of trying to takecontrol and do things our own
way, and money just happens tobe a really easy one to slip
into that battle.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Christian.
We encourage Christians to keepthe focus on you know Christ
and you know.
Let him, like you said, let himbe your source of peace and
your source of comfort and nothave it be.
You know their finances, orwhat money they have in the bank
, or you know whether it's a lotor a little.
(12:14):
You know how would youencourage them?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, I would say it starts with recognizing money's
proper place in our life, thatit's a gift or a tool that God
gives us in different amounts,just like he gives any other
gift.
But it was just a gift to beused for his glory, not to be
the object of our affection.
God wants that place in ourheart of first priority, and so
getting our finances in order,like anything else, if I were
struggling with an addiction orif I were struggling with a
(12:46):
health issue, whatever the casemight be it starts with saying
God, how do you want to work inthis?
And I give this over to you.
So getting our monies in ourproper place starts with putting
God in his proper place, whichis number one in our lives, and
then from there he can doamazing things that will allow
him.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
And I think you're right and we actually, you know,
obviously we need to put God inour proper place.
We, when we do that and we havethem in there for a long time,
we sometimes, you know, let itslip and then put whatever you
know, whether it's money or, youknow, a new house or new car,
whatever we sometimes put youknow, forget about that and put
(13:28):
that you know above.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
yeah, yeah, and it's an ongoing struggle.
My, my husband used the analogy.
I really liked this analogy.
He gave like sometimes, likehe's been on weight loss
journeys where he's tried tolose weight and then he'll have
a day where he eats too much andhe's like, oh, I wrecked
everything, I'm just going toeat everything, say, and I'm
done with my diet.
That's not productive and nothealthy.
(13:53):
When we mess up, we get up andwe make things right and we
start again.
And so when we find ourselvesslipping into those old patterns
of putting God out of the rightplace or elevating money above
where it should be, first of all, we have to catch that and
recognize that.
We don't have to say I'vemessed up, I'll never be able to
(14:13):
handle this.
We can say you know what Imessed up, but this is just a
little trip on my journey.
I'm going to pick up, I'm goingto stand up and I'm going to
surrender it to God again.
Keep going.
One of the common themes in thebook is that this is a constant
journey of surrender.
We don't just say one time toGod you can have my all, and we
(14:33):
never, we never go through thatagain.
Surrender is a daily, if nothourly, if not minute by minute,
acknowledgement of I need you,god, I can't do this on my own.
Lead me how you want me to go.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you just mentioned the book that you
wrote, and it's called Money andSpirit.
Tell us about the book.
What is it about and what madeyou like the book?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Yeah.
So Money and Spirit is allabout this daily journey of
surrender and what it looks likein our finances.
It is something that can beread as an individual, but it's
also got discussion questions inthere where you can go through
it with your spouse or a friendor a loved one, or even a small
group.
I've just done a Bible study atmy church, but the whole
premise of it is that if we willsurrender our finances to the
(15:22):
Lord and follow the guidance ofthe Holy Spirit, we can start to
experience what the fruit ofthe Spirit looks like in our
finances and how we manage andthink about money.
So, for example, what does itlook like if we look at our
money through the?
What does it look like if welook at our money through the?
What does it look like to havethe fruit of love in our
finances, where we look at ourmoney as a way to show love and
(15:44):
to receive God's love?
What does it mean to have peaceand joy and self-control and
gentleness and kindness and allthe fruits of the spirit?
So that's really what this bookis about.
It's not a guidebook of tipsand techniques although you find
a few references here and therebut it's more about getting our
heart right, because we'rerecognizing that true change
(16:06):
starts when we allow the HolySpirit to change us from the
inside.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Can you go into a little bit more detail about
connecting the spiritual and thefinancial in your book.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, so I wholeheartedly believe that
money is spiritual.
We've treated it as this tabooword and things we don't want to
talk about in the church, butJesus talked about money a lot
and that's because he recognizedthat this is something that
tends to get a grip on us.
So it is a spiritual issuebecause when we have financial
issues, it's a symptom of muchtroubling underlying cause of
(16:45):
greed and misplaced prioritiesand not following the Lord's
leading.
This book is not a make nomistake.
It's not a get rich scheme.
Like you know, you can followthe Holy Spirit's leading and
still be poor.
But it's about finding peaceand joy and self-control with as
little or as much as we have,recognizing that God owns it all
(17:08):
and being faithful for what hewants us to do with it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
You know you mentioned it in the beginning of
your answer to the lastquestion there about talking
about money, and it's almostlike a taboo subject when it
comes to talking about it in thechurch.
Yes, why do you?
I mean, we talk about tithing,we talk about giving offerings
(17:34):
to the church but that's aboutit.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Why do you think that is?
I think it's for a fewdifferent reasons.
One I think that we think it'stoo personal.
I would never walk up to afriend and say how much do you
make.
So we treat money as verydeeply personal and we don't
talk about it.
We don't talk about how muchdebt is on our credit cards.
We see this as deeply personal.
So I think that's one issue.
(18:01):
But then also, because it tendsto get a grip on our hearts, we
feel like our toes are beingstepped on anytime money is
mentioned, like how dare youjudge how I use what's mine, you
know?
So I think it's taboo for that.
And then you know.
And then another reason I thinkit's taboo in the church is
there a lot of for good reason,there's a lot of um, sensitivity
(18:23):
, people uh, we've watchedpastors that have preached from
the pulpit and misused finances,and so I think we're hesitant
to talk about money because wedon't want to be perceived as
after people's money that aregoing to the church.
So we just don't talk about it.
But the problem in not talkingabout it is that people are
weighed down by heavily andthey're in bondage and we're not
(18:46):
talking about the topic that istheir greatest struggle.
So we're missing out on anopportunity as a church to meet
the needs of those who arereally struggling with.
Where do I go from here?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Going back to your book for a minute.
Was there a particular momentor experience that spurred you
writing the book?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, we had a meeting here in the office where
we were talking about how tohelp our churches.
We work with a lot of churchesand ministries at Barnabas
Foundation and so we weretalking about all these
different ideas and we,legitimately, were stuck.
It was one of those meetingswhere we were talking in circles
and weren't sure where to gofrom there, and so my boss, who
(19:29):
is a deeply spiritual man likehe lives out the walk of faith
like stopped the meeting andsaid let's just pray about this.
And he started praying God,guide us to the right resource
and what is ours to do to helpthe church.
And it was really out of thatthat the idea formed about
starting to work on this.
It started as a Bible study andeventually became a book, but
(19:52):
it came out of that.
It was really born out ofprayer and out of getting out of
the way.
We're not going to push ourideas God, what do you want us
to do?
And out of that conversation,then that prayer is where this
idea from the book came.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Your book begins with a story about a public battle
of wills yes, public battle ofwills with your preschoolers.
How does that experiencereflect?
How?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
we often view and manage our money.
Okay.
So I tell this story at thebeginning of the book.
He's 13 now, but at the time hewas three years old and we were
at Disney World supposedly thehappiest place on earth and he
was just tired and sunburned andnot his best self and he was
just having.
We had this whole battle of hewanted to go.
(20:42):
I don't even remember what itwas all about.
It's probably like I told himhe couldn't have a cookie or
like that.
Who knows what the subject was.
But he really was digging hisfeet in, like he was determined
to do things his own way, and Ijust kept saying, jackson, if
you'll just listen to me, we canget on with our day and go do
something fun.
But he was so set on his ownway and doing things his way
(21:05):
that we spent a good 45 minutesto an hour just in meltdown mode
and missing out on all the funthat we could be doing.
And I talk about in the bookhow you know we're just we're
just adult versions of thatstrong-willed toddler.
We often so set on doing thingsour own way and we're thrown
(21:26):
these you know adult-liketantrums to God of I want
control and I want to do thingsmy way and I know what's best.
And meanwhile God is saying ifyou'll just listen to me and do
the things that I want, wouldsee that I have what's best for
you in mind and there's joy andthere's fun and there's
fulfillment just around thecorner If you can just get out
(21:48):
of your own way of trying to dothings your way.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Right.
What does it look like to findpeace and glory, regardless of
our circumstances?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Yeah, like I said, I have met Christians.
I did a trip to India and I metfaithful Christians there who
literally had nothing, you know,just enough for survival.
And I've also met very wealthypeople who and we've seen them
in public figures who just can'tseem to find fulfillment, no
(22:21):
matter how much money or stuffthey have.
And so I truly believe that joyand peace has nothing to do
with our bank account or howmuch or little we have.
Joy and peace is recognizingthat God is our provider.
He leads us beside still waters, he provides just what we need
at just the right time, and wetruly embrace that and accept
(22:43):
that we can have joy regardlessof how much or how little we
have.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
How do you hope the mentions of your book will
impact readings in the long term?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
My hope is that this book will get into the hands of
those who feel like they have nohope, that they are just stuck,
that are just really strugglingand they're in bondage of
finances for whatever reason,and my hope is that they will
recognize that God wants todeliver them from that and bring
them peace and freedom.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
For those who might feel overwhelmed or unsure about
their financial situation whatsmall, what one small but
thoughtful step they can take tobegin aligning their finances
with their values.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, first of all, I've been there.
You know, I talk about thatmoment that my husband and I
prayed and we were just at ourwits end, didn't know what to do
.
It starts with acknowledgingthat there's a problem and
inviting God to be part of it.
So just inviting God's work inour life and surrendering it
(23:58):
Sorry, swither, you don't haveto have all the answers just
asking him to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Did you experience any personal or unexpected
revelations while writing thisbook, and can you share one that
stood out?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah.
So I was writing this book inreal time, living real life as a
wife and mother, and one of therealizations I had while
working on this book is just areminder that this is a daily
struggle and that even thatwe're not on the other side of.
I figured everything out nowand I never make mistakes, but
even as I was writing this book,there were new temptations and
(24:38):
new struggles and new thingsthat would come up along the way
.
So again, it was just arealization that it had to be a
daily surrender, it had to beongoing thing.
There's not a I have arrivedand now I figured it all out.
I have to keep coming back toGod and surrendering that to him
over and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
As we get to the end here, I always like to ask my
guests what's one word ofencouragement or one word of
knowledge like to give myaudience.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I would just like you to know that God loves you and
he cares deeply for you, andthere is nothing going on in
your life that he is not awareof and that he doesn't want to
be part of.
He is our source of strength,he is our source of comfort, and
you don't have to walk thisjourney alone.
He wants to walk it with you.
So I would just encourage youto recognize that the God who
(25:35):
loves you deeply wants to walkdaily with you.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Well, heather, thank you so much for coming on the
show today.
We greatly appreciate havingyou.
Thank you so much.
And where again can people pickup your book?
And even if they want to checkout your writings and your blog
and everything, where can theyfind that?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yes, I blog semi-regularly at HeatherDaynet.
Just simple spelling HeatherDay like opposite of night dot
net.
You can also look for me onFacebook.
Heather M Day.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Again.
Thank you again for coming onand we greatly appreciate having
you.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Guys and girls, thank you so much for coming on and
for listening today.
We greatly appreciate havingyou to listen and to be inspired
and be encouraged about thistopic.
And please go and check outHeather's information and her
book.
And please go and check out mywebsite at wwwdorseyroastshowcom
(26:47):
.
And until next time, god bless,bye-bye.
Hello everyone, thank you again for joining me on
another episode of the DorsuShow.
Today we have a special guestwith us.
Her name is Heather Day.
She is an author and ministryleader with over 20 years of
experience in marketingcommunications and non-profit
(00:36):
ministry.
Haley's marketing for BarnabasFoundation was writing
consultation to over 200Christian ministries.
Her book Money and SpiritSurrounding Our Finances to the
Holy Spirit explores financialstewardship.
She's written content for over200 non including Christian
(01:02):
Leadership Alliances, outcomesmagazine, the University Today
and Olivia the Magazine.
Heather blogs about life,motherhood, marriage and
faith-led leadership atHeatherDaynet.
A communications and executiveMBA graduate from LA Nazarene
(01:27):
University, heather currentlyleads marketing communications
for LA Nazarene University andLeague-like cases.
She resides in Illinois withher husband, robert and their
children, emma and Jackson.
Heather actively participatesin her local church as a member,
(01:48):
board member and volunteerleader.
Heather, thank you so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Dorsey, thank you for having me.
Pleasure to be here, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Well, I'd like to open up with an icebreaker
question.
Today's icebreaker question iswhat's your favorite movie and
why?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh, my favorite movie .
So my favorite movie of alltime is the Parent Trap, the
original one with Hayley Mills,and Hayley Mills which is
playing her own twin.
I've watched that dozens oftimes in my lifetime and it's
just a sweet movie and bringsback memories of my childhood of
watching it and it just makesme happy.
(02:29):
I love watching it, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Tell us about your first journey and how you've
grown in your walk with Christover the years.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, so I was blessed to grow up in a
Christian household.
My dad is a pastor and my momalso has been in ministry roles
right alongside him from thevery beginning, so I knew Jesus
as a young child.
I don't remember a day when Ididn't know of the love of Jesus
in my life.
When I was around eight yearsold I asked him to be my savior
(03:02):
and from that point I felt acall to ministry.
I didn't know exactly what thatlooked like, but in my young
girl heart I thought I would bea missionary and I pictured I'd
be over in another country doingsomething crazy for the Lord.
And over time I came to realizethrough my college experience
(03:25):
that God had given me gifts,specifically in the field of
communication.
I see how he has used that.
I'm able to work with lots ofChristian ministries and I have
come to realize that God equipsus for the areas where he leads
us, that he continues to opendoors, and ministry is really
just about being availablewherever he takes us.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Right.
Can you share a pivotal momentthat deeply impacted your faith
learning.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah Gosh, there are so many, it's hard to isolate it
down to one.
I know that in the last fewyears in particular, my parents
have gone through a lot ofhealth struggles and I have
observed both of them, but mydad in particular.
On the really hard days wherehe was in pain and feeling
(04:20):
lonely and just where thingsreally looked dark, he continued
to shine the love of Jesus tothe nurses in his hospital room
and God continued to minister tohim, and I just took great
inspiration from that.
I'm not, I'm just realizing, um, god is walking beside us on
the days that are hard, andthere is no moment, no matter
(04:43):
what we're going through, thatGod can't turn around and use it
to minister in the lives ofothers.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Amen.
How have you seen and you justmentioned a couple one of them
there, but how have you seen Godwork through the struggles of
your life?
The ministry, whatever you wantto talk about?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, I have.
So over the years, you know, ofcourse, like anyone else, I have
faced a number of struggles,both in my personal life and
with my family, whether it'sbeen health-related issues or
financial struggles.
Or there were times where therewas a time, at one point, where
(05:25):
I lost a job and just felt likereally was reeling around
figuring out my identity andwhat's next and what is my
contribution to this world, andI found that it was often in the
darkest times where I sensedGod's presence the most.
It was often in the darkesttimes where I sensed God's
presence the most, and sometimesthat looked like just being
aware of his peace and comfortin those moments.
(05:46):
That was unexplainable, but italso came in the form of his
people that just were obedientand ministered to me in ways and
said things to me that theydidn't even realize the
significance of what they weresaying at the time, but I knew
that it was.
I've heard somebody call it aGod wink.
That God was, you know, showingup in my life and working
(06:07):
through the people and hispeople that just were obedient
to minister to me in my time ofneed.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Tell us about some of the writings that you have done
, especially the personalstories, authenticity that you
write about, and why is that soimportant to you?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I think that actually , one of the things that I have
dealt with personally is aftermy first child was born, I went
through postpartum depression.
After my first child was born,I went through postpartum
depression and I think that oneof the things that was the
hardest at that moment wasfeeling like I was all alone and
that I was unique in mystruggle and that nobody could
(06:47):
understand.
And I remember how freeing itwas when I finally had the
courage to talk about it with aclose friend and she experienced
that she had gone through thattoo in her life and I realized
that, like, sometimes we're socareful to guard pain and our
struggles that we don't, um, wearen't able to process that with
other people, but also we'recheating uh, cheating others of
(07:10):
the opportunity to minister tothem.
The more real we can be and themore that we could talk about
our stories and how we've seenGod at work in our lives, the
more like people connect withstories.
People connect with real.
You know, on my, on my blog andin my book I tell stories that
are sometimes not veryflattering of myself, where I
just admit you know silly thingsthat I've done or things that
(07:31):
weren't you know kind ofboneheaded decisions.
But, but I really, but in thoseways, when we're authentic, it
breaks down walls where otherpeople feel like they can be
safe and talk with you as well.
When we put up a guard where wepretend we've got it all
together, that we knoweverything we need to know, it
makes people more apprehensiveabout being real with us.
So authenticity breaks downthose walls and ministers in a
(07:54):
way that fakeness just can't.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I think how did you get involved with writing, but
also with the financial aspectof your writing as well?
How did you combine the two ofthose together?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, so writing has been something that I've done
since I was a little girl.
Of course it looked completelydifferent, but I just always
love to tell stories and writethose kind of things and, as I
said, I had ideas of how Godmight use me, but I realized
that he planted those loves andskills early in my life, that I
could start using writing for mywork.
So over time I've written abouta lot of different things.
(08:32):
I've written content aboutorganizations, but about three
years ago I worked for anorganization called Barnabas
Foundation and we startedtalking and praying about how we
could serve churches andChristians more effectively.
And one of the things that wetalked about was how people are
(08:52):
often in financial bondage.
Where they are just, they'reconsumed, whether it's through
debt or whether they're agreedor just worry and fears that
there are lots of people underthe bondage of money.
And that resonated with mypersonal story, because I
remembered a time early in mymarriage with my husband where
(09:15):
we were just.
We were up to our eyeballs indebt and were overwhelmed and
didn't know what to do, and wehad this really profound moment
in the parking lot of arestaurant where we just came to
a head and we prayed.
You know, god, we've made amess of things, we don't know
what to.
Can you help us out?
And we literally walked intorestaurant and and, um, and a
(09:39):
friend of mine was there andtalked about how he had just
come from a financial peace uhworkshop and how it was the best
thing he'd ever done.
And it was just this crazymoment of like surrendering what
was overwhelming us andsurrendering it to God and
watching how he not only caredabout it but put a solution
right in front of us.
And it wasn't like thingschanged overnight.
(10:02):
We had to do a lot of hard workand be faithful in the small
things and go back to the basics, but we found that by
surrendering our worries andwhat was holding us bondage, by
surrendering that to God, hecould work in our lives.
So that was really the genesisof this book, was just this
(10:24):
thought of like what does itlook like to surrender our
finances to the work of the HolySpirit and see what he might do
through that?
So that's really what the bookis about.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Why do you think so many, especially us as
Christians?
Why do you think we strugglewith money and you know dealing
with, you know whatever it be,you know, like you said, greed
or debt and whatnot.
Why do you think we deal withit so much?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I think it deals.
It's a symptom of our nature tohave misplaced priorities and
try to replace what God is therefor, replace it with things and
with objects.
And so we look at like money.
We use it as to fill the voidof a lack of a love or affection
(11:11):
in our life.
We try to buy those things, orwe want to have greater control
in our life.
Try to buy those things, or wewant to have greater control in
our life, so we want to amassmoney to make sure that we're in
control of things.
We want to have peace, so westart stockpiling things.
And money was never meant to beour source of love or joy,
peace or comfort or control.
(11:32):
Those are all things that Godwants.
And so we struggle because wealways have that battle within
ourselves of trying to takecontrol and do things our own
way, and money just happens tobe a really easy one to slip
into that battle.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Christian.
We encourage Christians to keepthe focus on you know Christ
and you know.
Let him, like you said, let himbe your source of peace and
your source of comfort and nothave it be.
You know their finances, orwhat money they have in the bank
, or you know whether it's a lotor a little.
(12:14):
You know how would youencourage them?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, I would say it starts with recognizing money's
proper place in our life, thatit's a gift or a tool that God
gives us in different amounts,just like he gives any other
gift.
But it was just a gift to beused for his glory, not to be
the object of our affection.
God wants that place in ourheart of first priority, and so
getting our finances in order,like anything else, if I were
struggling with an addiction orif I were struggling with a
(12:46):
health issue, whatever the casemight be it starts with saying
God, how do you want to work inthis?
And I give this over to you.
So getting our monies in ourproper place starts with putting
God in his proper place, whichis number one in our lives, and
then from there he can doamazing things that will allow
him.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
And I think you're right and we actually, you know,
obviously we need to put God inour proper place.
We, when we do that and we havethem in there for a long time,
we sometimes, you know, let itslip and then put whatever you
know, whether it's money or, youknow, a new house or new car,
whatever we sometimes put youknow, forget about that and put
(13:28):
that you know above.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
yeah, yeah, and it's an ongoing struggle.
My, my husband used the analogy.
I really liked this analogy.
He gave like sometimes, likehe's been on weight loss
journeys where he's tried tolose weight and then he'll have
a day where he eats too much andhe's like, oh, I wrecked
everything, I'm just going toeat everything, say, and I'm
done with my diet.
That's not productive and nothealthy.
(13:53):
When we mess up, we get up andwe make things right and we
start again.
And so when we find ourselvesslipping into those old patterns
of putting God out of the rightplace or elevating money above
where it should be, first of all, we have to catch that and
recognize that.
We don't have to say I'vemessed up, I'll never be able to
(14:13):
handle this.
We can say you know what Imessed up, but this is just a
little trip on my journey.
I'm going to pick up, I'm goingto stand up and I'm going to
surrender it to God again.
Keep going.
One of the common themes in thebook is that this is a constant
journey of surrender.
We don't just say one time toGod you can have my all, and we
(14:33):
never, we never go through thatagain.
Surrender is a daily, if nothourly, if not minute by minute,
acknowledgement of I need you,god, I can't do this on my own.
Lead me how you want me to go.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you just mentioned the book that you
wrote, and it's called Money andSpirit.
Tell us about the book.
What is it about and what madeyou like the book?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Yeah.
So Money and Spirit is allabout this daily journey of
surrender and what it looks likein our finances.
It is something that can beread as an individual, but it's
also got discussion questions inthere where you can go through
it with your spouse or a friendor a loved one, or even a small
group.
I've just done a Bible study atmy church, but the whole
premise of it is that if we willsurrender our finances to the
(15:22):
Lord and follow the guidance ofthe Holy Spirit, we can start to
experience what the fruit ofthe Spirit looks like in our
finances and how we manage andthink about money.
So, for example, what does itlook like if we look at our
money through the?
What does it look like if welook at our money through the?
What does it look like to havethe fruit of love in our
finances, where we look at ourmoney as a way to show love and
(15:44):
to receive God's love?
What does it mean to have peaceand joy and self-control and
gentleness and kindness and allthe fruits of the spirit?
So that's really what this bookis about.
It's not a guidebook of tipsand techniques although you find
a few references here and therebut it's more about getting our
heart right, because we'rerecognizing that true change
(16:06):
starts when we allow the HolySpirit to change us from the
inside.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Can you go into a little bit more detail about
connecting the spiritual and thefinancial in your book.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, so I wholeheartedly believe that
money is spiritual.
We've treated it as this tabooword and things we don't want to
talk about in the church, butJesus talked about money a lot
and that's because he recognizedthat this is something that
tends to get a grip on us.
So it is a spiritual issuebecause when we have financial
issues, it's a symptom of muchtroubling underlying cause of
(16:45):
greed and misplaced prioritiesand not following the Lord's
leading.
This book is not a make nomistake.
It's not a get rich scheme.
Like you know, you can followthe Holy Spirit's leading and
still be poor.
But it's about finding peaceand joy and self-control with as
little or as much as we have,recognizing that God owns it all
(17:08):
and being faithful for what hewants us to do with it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
You know you mentioned it in the beginning of
your answer to the lastquestion there about talking
about money, and it's almostlike a taboo subject when it
comes to talking about it in thechurch.
Yes, why do you?
I mean, we talk about tithing,we talk about giving offerings
(17:34):
to the church but that's aboutit.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Why do you think that is?
I think it's for a fewdifferent reasons.
One I think that we think it'stoo personal.
I would never walk up to afriend and say how much do you
make.
So we treat money as verydeeply personal and we don't
talk about it.
We don't talk about how muchdebt is on our credit cards.
We see this as deeply personal.
So I think that's one issue.
(18:01):
But then also, because it tendsto get a grip on our hearts, we
feel like our toes are beingstepped on anytime money is
mentioned, like how dare youjudge how I use what's mine, you
know?
So I think it's taboo for that.
And then you know.
And then another reason I thinkit's taboo in the church is
there a lot of for good reason,there's a lot of um, sensitivity
(18:23):
, people uh, we've watchedpastors that have preached from
the pulpit and misused finances,and so I think we're hesitant
to talk about money because wedon't want to be perceived as
after people's money that aregoing to the church.
So we just don't talk about it.
But the problem in not talkingabout it is that people are
weighed down by heavily andthey're in bondage and we're not
(18:46):
talking about the topic that istheir greatest struggle.
So we're missing out on anopportunity as a church to meet
the needs of those who arereally struggling with.
Where do I go from here?
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Going back to your book for a minute.
Was there a particular momentor experience that spurred you
writing the book?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, we had a meeting here in the office where
we were talking about how tohelp our churches.
We work with a lot of churchesand ministries at Barnabas
Foundation and so we weretalking about all these
different ideas and we,legitimately, were stuck.
It was one of those meetingswhere we were talking in circles
and weren't sure where to gofrom there, and so my boss, who
(19:29):
is a deeply spiritual man likehe lives out the walk of faith
like stopped the meeting andsaid let's just pray about this.
And he started praying God,guide us to the right resource
and what is ours to do to helpthe church.
And it was really out of thatthat the idea formed about
starting to work on this.
It started as a Bible study andeventually became a book, but
(19:52):
it came out of that.
It was really born out ofprayer and out of getting out of
the way.
We're not going to push ourideas God, what do you want us
to do?
And out of that conversation,then that prayer is where this
idea from the book came.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Your book begins with a story about a public battle
of wills yes, public battle ofwills with your preschoolers.
How does that experiencereflect?
How?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
we often view and manage our money.
Okay.
So I tell this story at thebeginning of the book.
He's 13 now, but at the time hewas three years old and we were
at Disney World supposedly thehappiest place on earth and he
was just tired and sunburned andnot his best self and he was
just having.
We had this whole battle of hewanted to go.
(20:42):
I don't even remember what itwas all about.
It's probably like I told himhe couldn't have a cookie or
like that.
Who knows what the subject was.
But he really was digging hisfeet in, like he was determined
to do things his own way, and Ijust kept saying, jackson, if
you'll just listen to me, we canget on with our day and go do
something fun.
But he was so set on his ownway and doing things his way
(21:05):
that we spent a good 45 minutesto an hour just in meltdown mode
and missing out on all the funthat we could be doing.
And I talk about in the bookhow you know we're just we're
just adult versions of thatstrong-willed toddler.
We often so set on doing thingsour own way and we're thrown
(21:26):
these you know adult-liketantrums to God of I want
control and I want to do thingsmy way and I know what's best.
And meanwhile God is saying ifyou'll just listen to me and do
the things that I want, wouldsee that I have what's best for
you in mind and there's joy andthere's fun and there's
fulfillment just around thecorner If you can just get out
(21:48):
of your own way of trying to dothings your way.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Right.
What does it look like to findpeace and glory, regardless of
our circumstances?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Yeah, like I said, I have met Christians.
I did a trip to India and I metfaithful Christians there who
literally had nothing, you know,just enough for survival.
And I've also met very wealthypeople who and we've seen them
in public figures who just can'tseem to find fulfillment, no
(22:21):
matter how much money or stuffthey have.
And so I truly believe that joyand peace has nothing to do
with our bank account or howmuch or little we have.
Joy and peace is recognizingthat God is our provider.
He leads us beside still waters, he provides just what we need
at just the right time, and wetruly embrace that and accept
(22:43):
that we can have joy regardlessof how much or how little we
have.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
How do you hope the mentions of your book will
impact readings in the long term?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
My hope is that this book will get into the hands of
those who feel like they have nohope, that they are just stuck,
that are just really strugglingand they're in bondage of
finances for whatever reason,and my hope is that they will
recognize that God wants todeliver them from that and bring
them peace and freedom.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
For those who might feel overwhelmed or unsure about
their financial situation whatsmall, what one small but
thoughtful step they can take tobegin aligning their finances
with their values.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, first of all, I've been there.
You know, I talk about thatmoment that my husband and I
prayed and we were just at ourwits end, didn't know what to do
.
It starts with acknowledgingthat there's a problem and
inviting God to be part of it.
So just inviting God's work inour life and surrendering it
(23:58):
Sorry, swither, you don't haveto have all the answers just
asking him to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Did you experience any personal or unexpected
revelations while writing thisbook, and can you share one that
stood out?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah.
So I was writing this book inreal time, living real life as a
wife and mother, and one of therealizations I had while
working on this book is just areminder that this is a daily
struggle and that even thatwe're not on the other side of.
I figured everything out nowand I never make mistakes, but
even as I was writing this book,there were new temptations and
(24:38):
new struggles and new thingsthat would come up along the way
.
So again, it was just arealization that it had to be a
daily surrender, it had to beongoing thing.
There's not a I have arrivedand now I figured it all out.
I have to keep coming back toGod and surrendering that to him
over and over again.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
As we get to the end here, I always like to ask my
guests what's one word ofencouragement or one word of
knowledge like to give myaudience.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I would just like you to know that God loves you and
he cares deeply for you, andthere is nothing going on in
your life that he is not awareof and that he doesn't want to
be part of.
He is our source of strength,he is our source of comfort, and
you don't have to walk thisjourney alone.
He wants to walk it with you.
So I would just encourage youto recognize that the God who
(25:35):
loves you deeply wants to walkdaily with you.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Well, heather, thank you so much for coming on the
show today.
We greatly appreciate havingyou.
Thank you so much.
And where again can people pickup your book?
And even if they want to checkout your writings and your blog
and everything, where can theyfind that?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yes, I blog semi-regularly at HeatherDaynet.
Just simple spelling HeatherDay like opposite of night dot
net.
You can also look for me onFacebook.
Heather M Day.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Again.
Thank you again for coming onand we greatly appreciate having
you.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Guys and girls, thank you so much for coming on and
for listening today.
We greatly appreciate havingyou to listen and to be inspired
and be encouraged about thistopic.
And please go and check outHeather's information and her
book.
And please go and check out mywebsite at wwwdorseyroastshowcom
(26:47):
.
And until next time, god bless,bye-bye.
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