Bayard Bendler
I know this sounds like a strange title for a blog, but let me explain.
About twenty years ago finances were extremely bad for Prison Outreach of Delaware.
I would turn to our staff and tell them; "well, we are O.K. this week. God will have us doing this work for another week. I just don’t know what will happen next week".
Our treasurer Bayard Bendler was a God fearing and an honorable man with a tremendous faith in the Lord. I would report to him what our deposit was for the week after Terri Lindell, our Office Manager logged all of the checks in the financial ledgers and made the deposit in the bank.
During those years there was never quite enough money to make ends meet. At times we would get behind in finances and staff would get two, three and even four weeks behind for an extended period of time. This was very difficult for us all.
It is difficult to be a treasurer in any situation, but especially when there is no money to pay the staff and the bills and still maintain the integrity of the ministry. Bayard would gently tell me that there wasn’t enough money in the account to pay everybody, but he believed that “The Big One is in the Mail”! Week after week we would just barely survive as a ministry, and week after week Bayard would say. “The Big one is in the Mail”
I must admit, there were days and weeks that I didn’t even want to talk to him because I knew what he was going to say, “The Big One is in the Mail”.
What I didn’t know or understand was that Bayard truly believed that the Big One was in the mail. I didn’t believe it. I even resented having to struggle with finances week after week and month after month. It was only through Bayard’s faith that we were able to keep things together.
Little by little I began to understand that The Big one was in the Mail, but not the way you might think. At points in time when we least expected it God would provide in some wonderful but unusual way, a blessing to lift us up and keep us going. The Big One that Bayard referred to was not a check but a blessing. It is the little things that give us hope and kept us serving, praising, and trusting.
The Big One was not some grand donation but the small signs and signals that God gave us along the way telling us not to quit, not to waver from the mission to which we had been called.
When I began to look a little closer, I realized that God had a plan in this ministry. It was bigger than all of us and it had eternal consequences. The blessings just abounded for me. The little things in our family’s life became a real blessing. The small encouragements from folks who believed in this ministry continued to flow and drove us forward.
It was the faith of a quiet humble man that helped me get it right. The Big One (blessings from God) is always in the Mail. We just need to take the time to see what God is doing. Then we need to praise him for all that he does.
Thank you for reading.
YOUR COMMENTS CONCERNING THIS BLOG OR OUR WEB SITE ARE MOST WELCOME
About twenty years ago finances were extremely bad for Prison Outreach of Delaware.
I would turn to our staff and tell them; "well, we are O.K. this week. God will have us doing this work for another week. I just don’t know what will happen next week".
Our treasurer Bayard Bendler was a God fearing and an honorable man with a tremendous faith in the Lord. I would report to him what our deposit was for the week after Terri Lindell, our Office Manager logged all of the checks in the financial ledgers and made the deposit in the bank.
During those years there was never quite enough money to make ends meet. At times we would get behind in finances and staff would get two, three and even four weeks behind for an extended period of time. This was very difficult for us all.
It is difficult to be a treasurer in any situation, but especially when there is no money to pay the staff and the bills and still maintain the integrity of the ministry. Bayard would gently tell me that there wasn’t enough money in the account to pay everybody, but he believed that “The Big One is in the Mail”! Week after week we would just barely survive as a ministry, and week after week Bayard would say. “The Big one is in the Mail”
I must admit, there were days and weeks that I didn’t even want to talk to him because I knew what he was going to say, “The Big One is in the Mail”.
What I didn’t know or understand was that Bayard truly believed that the Big One was in the mail. I didn’t believe it. I even resented having to struggle with finances week after week and month after month. It was only through Bayard’s faith that we were able to keep things together.
Little by little I began to understand that The Big one was in the Mail, but not the way you might think. At points in time when we least expected it God would provide in some wonderful but unusual way, a blessing to lift us up and keep us going. The Big One that Bayard referred to was not a check but a blessing. It is the little things that give us hope and kept us serving, praising, and trusting.
The Big One was not some grand donation but the small signs and signals that God gave us along the way telling us not to quit, not to waver from the mission to which we had been called.
When I began to look a little closer, I realized that God had a plan in this ministry. It was bigger than all of us and it had eternal consequences. The blessings just abounded for me. The little things in our family’s life became a real blessing. The small encouragements from folks who believed in this ministry continued to flow and drove us forward.
It was the faith of a quiet humble man that helped me get it right. The Big One (blessings from God) is always in the Mail. We just need to take the time to see what God is doing. Then we need to praise him for all that he does.
Thank you for reading.
YOUR COMMENTS CONCERNING THIS BLOG OR OUR WEB SITE ARE MOST WELCOME
RSS Feed