Trying 7 Ventures, yes, 8 - Learning Who We Are and Embracing It

I recently listened to a sermon on Ecclesiastes 11 that I had missed because we were away.  Often you listen to a sermon and feel conviction and know there is much to change in your life.  That's a good thing and the power of God's Word.  However, once in a while, the sermon can also serve to encourage you and help keep you on your path.  It can reaffirm the choices you've made and encourage you.  That's what this sermon did for me.  

RM and I have done a lot of crazy things in our life and sometimes it's a little much even for me, so I can see why people might have a few opinions on us.  But Ecclesiastes made me feel like maybe we aren't as nuts as we feel sometimes.  In fact, some of the things we've done might just be Biblical! 

Here's the first two verses in NIV:

Ship your grain across the sea;
    after many days you may receive a return.
2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
    you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

Now ESV:

Cast your bread upon the waters,
    for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

I'll explain a little more later why I love these verses, but first I have to explain what I have come to realize.  I'm very influenced by certain books.  For example, the book by Dave Ramsey on debt, The Total Money Makeover.  His book was all about killing debt.  It was one of the main reasons I started this blog.  Basically all debt is bad.  And it is, mostly.  There are times when it can be used to grow your money, too, when done wisely.  He recommended all the ways to get rid of debt.  But he doesn't take into account there are different ways to do this.  We don't all have the same approach to life.  His book is written for the one type of person, a Mr. Steady type, who needs it all written out with steps and rules.  The danger of his book is that he isn't married to my husband.  My problem is that once I read that book, if we didn't do everything Ramsey said, I figured we were doing it all wrong.

As we keep going along in life, I'm realizing just how differently we're doing things.  Ramsey's book is still really good and I still highly recommend it for everyone, but it's also a vanilla approach to life.  Had we listened to everything he wrote, we wouldn't have done any of the things we've done as they didn't follow the "rules".

Back to Ecclesiastes 11.  Solomon's (most assume he's the author) advice is to try a bunch of things, "cast your bread upon the waters....give a portion to seven, or even eight....ship your grain across the sea...invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight...."  I'm married to someone who doesn't like to do things like everyone else.  I tease people who are married to Mr. Steadys because I know that their life must be so much more calm than mine, but what I realized recently when I say that is that I am a Mrs. Steady, a least a little.  My life is a whirlwind.  Yes, every day is an adventure - literally - but books like Dave Ramsey's can ruin it for me.  I end up coveting the "normal" person's life instead of enjoying my own.  I long for a husband who follows the rules so I can check off the boxes!  But my husband takes his book and throws it across the room!  He sees good in it - for a normal, no-risking taking kind of person.  Why can't he just follow the rules!!!  BUT, 27 years of marriage later, I'm slowly, just now, starting to figure him out.  I'm starting to figure out our marriage!  And it's more like Eccesiastes 11, way less than Ramsey's way.

We've made "wealth" by trying "7 ventures, yes, 8", or how about "20 ventures, yes, 30" or more!  Some of it has been accidental, others on purpose, all in God's providence.  We've loved real estate and have bought and sold a few times, always doing well with that.  That's one major way we've moved forward.  We've done multiple side hustles, including buying and selling on ebay, never knowing what will succeed and what won't, as chapter 11 goes on to say, "Sow your seed in the morning,

    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well."

We've worked for others, getting paid for odd jobs early on in our marriage.  We've worked for other employers, started our own engineering business, back to working for others by being at the college.  We've built and sold a house.  We've done farming, selling meat as well as hay and then moved into grapes.  We've sold vegetables and did a market garden.  We most recently started up a winery and then the stained glass business and store.  This winter will start the AirBnB business, Lord willing.  It is a way more exciting life, though it adds a level of uncertainty, which I'll call "faith" and stress, but it has allowed us to buy land and lots of it.  If we needed to sell we would be able to sell it for a good price as we're in such a good location by God's grace.  My Mr. Steady friends and my Mrs. Steady friends can't breathe after they hear what we're doing and I have to admit it's hard at times for me, too,  because, just like the verse says, "you do not know which will succeed".  I wish we knew the future, though I know we don't really want to.  I wish we knew that all we did would succeed, but we don't.  So we just keep trying things.  We are having such a hayday with the stained glass classes we can't believe it.  So those seem to be succeeding the most right now.  Our winery took off at the end of the summer last year.  This year we will be able to start months earlier so we hope to have even more success this spring and summer along with movies on the shed and other events, again, Lord willing.  All this to say, had we done it the way Ramsey says, we would have perhaps been debt-free, but we would have lived a life that went contrary to how we are wired.  

I told RM yesterday, "You have to write a book that explains the pros and cons of Dave Ramsey's book".  He needs to write a book that takes all the books and all the financial philosophies and puts them in one place.  He needs to write a book for wives married to people like him.  I read a book on marriage that really helped me understand my husband years ago, but it didn't have a financial element to it.  So, in the back of my mind, I've always kind of thought, he's doing it wrong.  And, because of that, there's been a tension because I secretly wished he'd do it the way Ramsey had said!  I've had to just keep trusting the process, trusting my husband, trusting God and the way He's made my husband.  And, I've had to learn who I am!  I love taking risks, but as I've gotten older, I get a little more cautious.  All the things I've done have taught me so much about my fears and how to manage them so I'm not living in a state of fear all the time.  I've also learned the power of two people working together.  Apart, we could never have achieved what we've achieved, to God be the glory.  I would NEVER have done any of these things on my own, but because we're together, we do it and we get stronger in our marriage as a result.  What a mystery marriage is!

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

Those verses speak of taking your "talents" and burying them in the sand.  That is way safer and way less risk.  I love burying my talents.  But that is wrong.  We're supposed to invest and bring back more talents.  These verses speak of standing around and doing nothing because it might be too risky.  I will say, we have planted despite how risky it may appear, no standing around watching clouds and wind.  Again to God be the glory - my husband moves forward even though the world thinks he's nuts.  And, though it isn't flowing quite like a waterfall, we're seeing the reaping slowly but surely and we praise God for His goodness to us.  We still cannot say what will succeed for sure or not, but we keep sowing "morning till night" and we are trusting God to fulfill these promises.  When you read them backwards, which I love to do, it says when you plant you will reap.  We plant a lot.  

So, as I heard the sermon on these verses, though there were many applications, I heard God encouraging me.  He was telling me "Your husband isn't nuts.  You aren't crazy.  Keep doing what you're doing.  You'll reap."  I felt so encouraged as I listened to these words.  Ramsey's approach is fine and I still kind of wish we had followed his program to the letter of the law, but I'm also glad we didn't.