Story of God's Provision - Part 1

 God provides for a family of 9 making $24k year. From clothes to cars to homes, this story is sure to inspire and encourage you on your journey. 

Transcript

Dan Schilling: 0:07

Hey, welcome to the FeedSheep podcast where we help you hear God's voice follow his lead and thrive as a disciple. I'm Dan Schilling. I'll be one of your guides. Now let's get into today's topic. Hey, welcome to FeedSheep podcast. Thanks for joining us, Michael. Man. Good to be back together.

Michael Blue: 0:23

Yeah. Good to see your face again.

Dan Schilling: 0:26

Yeah, had a couple of other weeks as a summertime, but what kinds of things going on? Here in Florida, I'm sure for you in Austin as well.

Michael Blue: 0:33

It is hot and it is flying by I don't know what it is about summer. But this they get faster. I think every time.

Dan Schilling: 0:40

Yeah. Like life as you get older, keeps going on and on, does it. So today, we're going to talk about life and some story around life. Last time we were mentioning, we want to start to introduce stories of people who are living a lifestyle of hear, follow and thrive and Mike and I've been talking about it. And so we feel like we're supposed to share our story, each of us and so we're gonna jump into that today, here on the feed sheet podcast. And I'll be sharing a little bit of our story of our journey. But before we do that, Michael, why don't you pray for us?

Michael Blue: 1:22

Sure. Heavenly Father, thanks so much for time together with with Dan, and with anyone who's out there listening to what we're doing, I pray that you would encourage us you would strengthen us with the story of your faithfulness, the story of how you provide and and help us to grow and trusting you as a as a good father. And I just ask that you would encourage each of us today in Jesus name. Amen.

Dan Schilling: 1:52

Well, Michael, so you and I, you and I met back in 2015, which I'm going to share a little bit that as a part of our story here in just a minute, but we've been on this journey, each of us individually. And then the last, since 2015, building a friendship and relationship around this journey of here, follow and thrive. You've also written a book called free to follow. want to mention that again, for folks, if you've not seen that, you'll probably learn a little bit more of Michael's story next week. And you can probably learn some more to that book as well. So So Michael, to us up a little bit of your thoughts. Yeah.

Michael Blue: 2:32

Yeah. So I mean, we've we've been kind of toying around with this idea. And I'm always so encouraged by people's stories. And I think all of us are kind of motivated by stories, we get these personal applications. You know, one of the one of the struggles with stories in this financial area is, it's easy to dismiss somebody else's story. Because we're in a different situation, and where we all live kind of differently, and maybe different seasons of life, and God does call us differently. But what I don't want to do, as we hear your story, and as we, as we tell other people's stories is, is to get this idea that you're never going to measure up to a story, you're never going to be able to get to that level of faith in a story. What I want people to hear through stories, is the growth and faith that happens along the way through obedience. Because I don't believe that anybody really goes from not trusting God to you know, think of the most faithful, trusting person you can think of overnight. They get there in a growth process and their maturity process. And so I think, stories not to highlight, Dan, it's not to highlight me or things that we've done. The story is to highlight God's faithfulness, as he gently helps us to grow in faith towards trusting Him. And the reality is we just are talking about is that just because we learned some faith along the way doesn't make it easier as we go through the journey. And so we want to hear that too. We want you to hear a vulnerability, the struggles that continue to happen, and the wrestling's not as a hopefully, a discouragement but an encouragement that we're all kind of fellow journey, Journey errs wanders along the way. So that's, that's what I want to try to tease out of Dan today as I get him to tell his story. So before we start started on the story, I don't know if you have anything more to add to that in?

Dan Schilling: 4:32

Well, it's so true, Michael. Now I want to make sure even as we share our story today, as I was sharing with a gentleman a couple of weeks ago, and he was saying I just could never measure I can never do all the things that you've done. I said I just want to encourage you I said it starts when Luke 16 talks about faithful little entrusted with much I don't think he's talking as sort of just about money. But I do think when he entrust us, you know things he calls CES two gives us His word a direction and leadership when we're faithful with that, those little steps, he may ask us to take more steps and you know, like, look in the Scriptures at all calls us to maturity, it's time to stop just eating, having milk, you know, it's time to move on to, to the things in the journey of our faith that continue to help us in our willingness to lay down our lives, surrender ourselves, our desires, our ways, our thoughts, and to say, God, I want to walk in your ways, because they're higher than my ways your thoughts are higher than my thoughts, your the things you want to accomplish in and through me aren't because you're trying to make an awesome story in me, it's so that I would be on display to the world in which I live the people around me of your goodness of your provision of who you are. And so today, I want to make sure that as you just mentioned that today is we share a little bit of the story of the Schilling family in our journey, it really is a story about a God who wants to shine in and through us not because we're any more special or elect or anything better. It's just you've tried to make ourselves available, as we've been talking about in the last couple of weeks. So

Michael Blue: 6:14

yeah, well, good. All right. So I don't exactly know what point you want to start, Dan, but tell us Yeah. Why don't you introduce this to your family a little bit and tell us about, you know, perhaps your faith journey and how you got started in ministry?

Dan Schilling: 6:31

Yeah, well, if I could, you know, that you've heard the statement of a picture's worth 1000 words. And so, I would like to just bring this slide up here for us today, and it has quite a few pictures in it for folks. So if you're listening to it on the podcast, sorry, you're gonna have to go catch us on YouTube, if you actually want to see the pictures, I'll try to describe them to you if you're listening. So at the top left here, Michael, this picture is actually of my parents, my two older brothers and our families, not taking too long ago, but this was at our family's farm where I grew up in Ohio. And my parents, you know, have a legacy of faith. They were faithful followers of Jesus, and I want to, you know, give thanks to them, you know, for instilling the desire to know God to walk with him to learn about Him in His Word, and to pursue him. And I think it's, I know, not everybody has that. But I do. And I'm grateful for it. And I'm thankful for parents who, who are continually leaving a legacy of faithfulness and desire to follow him. And that's really for us. The foundation. For me personally, where I got started, you know, was that those early years? And I know you as well have a heritage in that too, with your family. So

Michael Blue: 8:09

yeah, so how many? How many? There's a lot of kids in this picture, Dan?

Dan Schilling: 8:13

Yeah. Yeah. Well, they're, they're not all mine. But the boys here are, and so are, as you'll see, in these other pictures, we have our seven sons. And we'll talk a little bit about that journey in that story, as it kind of ones here. But the next picture, as you see, here, is a friend, mutual friend, you know, Lawrence funderburk, was on board that we had served on together previously, and on our board now, here as well, and his daughter, nya, who was actually a swimmer at The Ohio State University. But Lawrence and I met when I worked for the basketball team, which is our next picture there. This is a picture of the 9495, Ohio State basketball, and I'm that young looking guy up in the second from the right up there in the back row. And this was just a great season. For me, this was the start of my journey with Christ. I know I knew about him growing up in church, but this was where really things begin to develop. And I had a roommate who shared the gospel with me when I was a sophomore in college, and I was a knucklehead as a freshman, so I was not to walking a life in Christ, but this was really the turning point. And Lawrence and I became good friends. And there was a point in time as I was going through a journey of purity. sexual purity had made mistakes in that aspect of life. So I was going through a four and a half year journey of purity and one day during practice at Ohio State Lawrence, there was a young lady who was a trainer and He said, Hey, wouldn't you like to? sensually, you know, be with her? And I like no. And he said, Well, what? Why don't you think she's cute? I said, No, it's not about that. I said it just, um, I'm not into that. And he asked me, he said, Why? Because you don't like girls. It's because I feel like God's called me to a life of purity. And so that actually began our relationship. Because he said, Yeah, he's the best, right? That's fornication. And I thought, well, he didn't learn that, you know. And so he shared about his journey of faith and how he had not been walking with the Lord. And so there was just an interesting season of life for me to transition, and beginning to hear God's voice. In that season, though, the next picture just off there to the right is the Johnston's

Michael Blue: 10:45

so, just just as an Sorry to interrupt him. But just as an encouragement, I think many of us and listeners, you know, maybe you have kids, or you want to have kids, and you hear the story, it began with his parents of faithfulness. And then he tells of this time of, you know, being away from God, really and meeting roommate to share the gospel, what you had heard of, but yes, the idea that God is still pursuing your children, I think is really encouraging to me to know that it's not about it's not up to me, God is still going to be pursuing our children even when we feel like they're away or falling away or even physically away from us. Anyway, I found that tiny piece that may have may have been missed really good encouragement there. So continue on with your

Dan Schilling: 11:31

No, I appreciate you doing that. Because there's, my mom was faithfully praying for me, she had a a women's prayer group, they all knew I was being a complete knucklehead. You know, praying for me, Linda Anderson, or Hubbard, thank you. If you are watching, thank you for praying, because you're part of the story, right, just folks that were faithful to pray. And then the couple that I'm referring to here, Bill and Pam Johnston, were a couple that I when I started. That process of seeking Lord we are part of a church growing, thriving single's, ministry, college and career and Bill and Pam are our leaders. And they have continued through our life be spiritual parents to share and I, the bill passed away a few years ago now, but much like you as a college tennis player, and also an attorney. And so Bill was just a great mentor, father figure in my life. And so I lived with them for a year and a half while I was finishing up college. And so I want to use this as part of our story of the beginning of this journey of hearing God's voice. And so as I was heading into my senior year of college, my one roommate was getting married. We felt like I didn't know what the next season where we were going to live. And I began to feel like God was putting on my heart to it. I was supposed to live with the Johnston's and I was like, Well, how do I approach that? I mean, how do I go to somebody and say, Hey, I'm, like, God told me I was supposed to live with you. And I'm like, I can't I don't know how to do this. And I just probably should just meet with them. And so in the meeting, I no longer sat down. And Pam looked at me and she said, Hey, we've been praying, and we feel like God's calling you to come live with us. And before I could even say anything, it was just like that. God, thank you. And it was that really, Michael, for me when those first times of confirmation that I was hearing God's voice, and that he was leading me. And so not only have they been a key part of our journey, and I think one of the things I want to share here is we didn't get here alone, the journey of obedience, ism isn't to be done alone. It's tied down in community with others and having folks like Johnston's in our life, were critical, and helping us as a source of counsel of encouragement, and over the years, sometimes needed a little rebuke, and I'm grateful for that, because they've been a key part of our journey.

Michael Blue: 14:10

Yeah. We all need those types of people. That is for sure. And I think that's another highlight of stories when you hear a story is we don't mature in a vacuum, we really do mature when we're surrounded by other men and women of God who are helping us along the way. And that's a part of the story. But that's also even more important a part of relationship where you can do life together flesh on flesh. So glad glad that it's at the beginning of the story as well. And that's the other thing I've heard so far as it's people who have been a part of this journey God has used in your life.

Dan Schilling: 14:48

Yeah, absolutely. You know, my roommate, Mike fote was another he was the one who came down and shared passage out of his EQ three and said, this is you know, the house of Israel rebellion. And he said, I feel like this is this in there was a point where he shared, he said, Those who know me and they're not found my ways, and they will surely die. And it's like the Holy Spirit just poked me says you, you know, and I knew I wasn't living, right. But having folks around us that, as we've shared before, how do we know from hearing God's voice, you know, He speaks to us through His Word, that logos word, he speaks with a rhema word, but it's sometimes he speaks through others. And so there have been many others, as I'll share here today that have been a part of that process. And so the next picture is Sherry with a couple of our boys. But before I get totally into that, it was, as I was finishing up college, I worked for a company called Team America was a professional organization was a growing organization. And they asked me to be part of their leadership teams, I was finishing college, and I began to feel like God was speaking to me, again, that he was calling me to, I had had three months savings, and that he was calling me to spend time with him, and that he was going to show me who Dan Schilling is and what he was called to be. Now, when I went to tell the leadership, you know, at this organization, I feel like that's, God was calling me that they were questioning my sanity. You know, I got, you know, you can't be hearing that from God, he would want you to be here and work. And my mom and dad and others around me are thinking, Are you nuts, you know, like, you got a great job, you're finishing school. You know, this isn't time to kind of travel around Europe, which I wasn't planning to do, it was just having time to be with him. But Michael, that was a critical piece for us. Because in that I felt what God showed me as who Dan Schilling is as a son, and what he's called to be as a servant. And what he was calling me to be was to understand my identity and to redefine me. And that I'm a son, not because I've earned it, or I deserve it, but because of what Jesus did, to bring me into that family as a co heir with him as well as Christ, to bring me in, and his desire to be my father, and to speak to me and help me understand my identity is in him, called to serve at the pleasure of the king. And that season, really was foundational, again, of not just hearing his voice, but that willingness to go. And it wasn't easy. I mean, I literally probably for the first two weeks, was looking at the one ads, you know, for jobs, and I felt like the spirit guides, like, I didn't, I didn't call you out to have you look for a job, but different job, I want you just to spend time with me, but my identity was wrapped up so much as you and I both know, as men, even as a young man, was, it's not who I am. It's what I do. And when we go back to the series, we just talked about B versus do I've been a problematic person in this area of thinking more about the do and I was so I didn't want to just share with people, you know, hey, I'm, I'm What are you doing now that you graduate? Got one? I'm just spending time with the Lord. Right? Yeah, yeah, I do that too. In the morning. Now, what else you do? And you go into work or do anything, you know, so that my identity was more than just about what I do? Yeah.

Michael Blue: 18:15

Yeah, that's an it's a reminder we need so who am I becoming? As opposed to what am I doing? Or what am I accomplishing? Even? It's the accomplishments may come along the way but if they if they ever become the point they become a dangerous place in our lives? Yes.

Dan Schilling: 18:35

Yes. So the next season, I started to do some videography for a company of friends at church had a as you know, depositions and videographers, I was doing actually court deposition videography. And God was providing actually, it was paid pretty well back then was like$25 an hour. And so during the time I did, it didn't take my attention. I just had to turn the camera on. And I said, Hey, do you mind I asked, folks, they were Christians. I said, Do you mind if I read my Bible? Like, while I'm doing this, or like, Yeah, go for it. So I tell folks, in a way, I got paid 25 bucks an hour to read my Bible and study during these depositions. And it was just a sweet time, the Lord was providing ways I was able to volunteer at our church and, and in that same season, as when I met Sherry, and in the midst of that time, as we got to know each other, you know, we met in 1996. So we were married. We met in September, engaged in November, and we're married the following May of 1997. And so, I mean, it was a quick process and courtship and one of the things we're sharing that we felt God had put on our heart that we wanted, we hadn't had a journey of purity prior to and and I had a four and a half year journey of purity but was to not have sex before we were married, which is you know, as we talk about here, fall will thrive. And he said, there's three things that keep us from hearing God's voice Meantime, that's pride, money and infidelity. And so to, to have God to restore that purity was a key part of what I believe God wanted for us. And so I think it's a foundation stone in it was for us in our marriage and our relationship. And I tell young men, when I believe there's something, there's a gift, what that did for Sherry was she knew that she was worth the weight. And so that when or anything else in life or any other temptation, things come up, she knows that I'm not going to be looking for somebody else, I'm willing to wait, you know, that sex is going to drive my life and decisions and mistakes that can be made. So I believe it's a key part for us, especially for young folks in our foundational season of life.

Michael Blue: 20:51

Yeah, it demonstrates the ability to, to show some restraint, which is a good quality to have, and, and espouse.

Dan Schilling: 21:00

Well, and you think about when we talk about, we've talked about the fruits of the Spirit, right in Galatians, that one of those fruits is self control. And that doesn't come because I'm so you know, it's because of the Spirit of God in me, speaking to me, you know, keep your eyes straight ahead. You know, don't don't cross the line. You know, you don't have to do this. And so that four and a half years of purity was not just for what God wanted to do in me, but I believe through me, because now even with having seven sons and multiples of them, being able to share that story with them and how God used that, and me and my desire for them now to experience that journey of purity, so that they can give that gift to their future wives as well.

Michael Blue: 21:54

Yeah. Good. So what's this next picture here?

Dan Schilling: 21:58

Yeah, the next one was the next season. Then we went to miracle City Academy and where we were working for a Christian school, there when we met with them. It was part of our when we got married, Okay, God, just show us we'll go wherever you want us to go. We thought we were gonna go on staff with our church. In Columbus working for the youth of the pastor's was. Unfortunately, it was embezzling the building fund at the time. And so that fell apart quick. Sure, yeah. And so we're like, Okay, God, where do you want us we'll go, we'll serve anywhere. And so my wife lived in southern Ohio, we were going down to visit her parents and on the way there, she's like, I'd like to go, you know, friend goes to this church there. And so the first time we go, Michael, I sat in the back, and I didn't grow up. Being a weepy person, you know, it's kind of like that tough man. He did cry. But I sat in the back of this church, on the first time, where there in the Spirit of God was so president, I just began to weep. And I didn't know why I'm I was like, what's wrong? Like? Why do you I've never, I've never experienced the presence of God like that. Right? And so we went back another time. And I met with a pastor, and he said, Hey, I'd love to show you around and, and he said, Hey, we're looking for somebody to teach and coach. I'm like, Yeah, what do you have to do to teach and coach in a Christian school, we just have a four year degree. And I'm like, Well, I got that. And I had been a part of the basketball program, and I stayed at like, the game of basketball. And so we go, we're driving back out the driveway after that tour with the pastor and talking to him. And Sherry starts to weep. Like, man, what's, what is it about this place? And she said, I believe God had been speaking to me that Rick was going to call you and asked you to come work at the church. And she said, I thought it was my youth pastor and has a story behind that. But she's like, Daniel, they'll never want to go there. Be at that church, because, you know, she, my wife was actually engaged to the youth pastor, the pastor son at that other church, and so they didn't really shine, you know, on me when I would show up, you know, they're like, oh, there's that guy. kind of stole the pastor's, you know, Yonsei. Such like, you'll never want to go work at that church. But the pastor who was at this church that had the school's name was Rick. And so we began to pray and seek the Lord. And He revealed it was, this was the next season for us of ministry. And so we spent four and a half years, here's a great I was 26 years old people would come into the office and say, Hey, can I talk to the? Well, one more quick part of that story? We, we met with a pastor and his wife said, I'd like to have you come back and meet with the board. And so at the board meeting, he said, Hey, I'd like to introduce you to Dan and Sherry. Dan is going to be our new administrator. And I looked over chairs like wait, I thought he said teaching coach, like and later afterwards, I said, Hey, I don't I may have missed something. He said, No, he said, I I just do the God's showed me that you're supposed to be the next leader of The Church. And so we that four and a half years was a great leadership learning opportunity. I was 26 years old people would come into the office and say, Hey, can we talk to the administrator? I'm like, I'm him. Like, yeah, kid, get back to class, you know, like, go get go get the principal. But it was just a great opportunity. The pay started at $12,000 a year. And, yeah, so. And he told me, he said, We don't have much. We're a small school and Appalachian rural part of Ohio. And I said, You know what I said, if this is where God began to plant in me, my goal that if it's his vision, he supplies the provision, that my job isn't to try to figure out the provision, I don't make decisions based on the provision, I make a decision based on the vision that he speaks to our heart. And we believe he had given us this vision and we saw God's hand in so many ways, it's where you're going to see him that he's not limited to providing for us in that little box on the on our 1040. It says, here's what you made.

Michael Blue: 26:02

Yeah, absolutely. Good. So you're this is about 30 years old, then, just about where we are, right? This is what 2000?

Dan Schilling: 26:14

So, yep. 2000 Yeah. And so, what I'd like to do, you know, we're probably gonna break this into a couple episodes, is here just for just a moment, we'll kind of hit the bottom half of the pictures in the second episode here. But what I really wouldn't want to reiterate, Michael was, as we said earlier, this, this was a journey. This wasn't, it wasn't always easy. It wasn't always clear. You know, it's easy to look in the rearview mirror, and see how God's hand was directing. But in the midst of it, it's hard to see it. And you and I were just talking before we got on today, I mean, that that struggle is still exists today. And so what I want to do in the next part, two of our time, is, share how we started this next part of our journey with a $50 a month, are we going to trust God to provide and we started to watch him provide and that in that season felt like God said, You're gonna learn to trust me, but I'm gonna keep adding zeros. So just want to encourage folks that the journey is a step by step journey, day by day. It's not, that it's always so clear, like, oh, man, it was just so easy to go do it. Because there were times that I thought, am I crazy, you know, I can work for $12,000 a year and have a family and yet we watched God provide for us.

Michael Blue: 27:48

Yeah, and I think too, it's important to hear the simplicity of a lot of the story and, and the leading, it wasn't this grand vision, right? It was, it really was God's provision was leading the way for you, in many ways. And so you as you finish seasons, or you're even in the midst of seasons, God would provide a stirring in your heart and an opportunity and kind of move you along, in that way with people and encouragement, and all that, but, but at the end of the day, it's it's a pretty simple story, of just trying to listen and trust where God is. And I'm excited for us to get into the second half of the story, because I know, a bit of some of the things that people will say, Well, okay, that first half doesn't sound that much different than maybe a lot of people's first half in terms of trusting God. And I know that you've had to make some different decisions later on that people would would stop and say that that's a little more difficult, if I think about it that way.

Dan Schilling: 28:45

Yeah. So these early decisions, you know, this kind of it's so many of us, you know, go to college, get a job get started get. And those decisions are made solely for many of us based on money. Sure, we're not really, you know, what is God's gifting? What is his calling? What is his purposes for me, so for many decisions, we are looking totally at the dollars and cents. And so, you know, for us to go to a school, my wife has a master's degree and I'm, you know, I graduate from college, and communications, like we both could have made and went somewhere else that made a lot more money. But our heart was we want to be in a center of God's will for life. And that doesn't mean you gotta go somewhere and be poor either. So make sure it's what we're sharing is not we're not better. It's not holier, it's not, you know, anything other than we were trying to do what God was calling us to do as a part of our journey and our willingness to follow him. Because we want to think, right, we wanted to hear we wanted to follow and

Michael Blue: 29:48

yeah, and following, you know, in some ways, it can feel nonlinear. And some ways it is and other ways it's because we don't have the right way. don't have the perspective of God right and his there's a linear path, but for us it feels wandering and winding and you think why did I take that turn? Why am I doing that? But he's he is it is more about am I keeping my eyes on the on the one who I'm trying to follow? Yes. And I think that's the story.

Dan Schilling: 30:20

Yeah. Well, we're gonna come back and just a minute and we'll pick up on part two. I just wanna say thanks for tuning in, to the FeedSheep podcast. Tune in next time.