Our first edition of 2023 is all about The Road Less Traveled. Each and every one of us at some point has had to make a hard decision. We've all been there. But when you made that decision, did you take the road that God lead you on or did you go on your own?
hope ENCOURAGEMENT * FAITH * CULTURE * HOPE ROAD LESS TRAVELED EDITION is now
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2023
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January/February 2023 | 03
TABLE OF
DIGITAL EDITION
CONNIE CHANDLER
TAMMIE POLK
ROBIN STARR
34
JULIE MACC
TRADITIONAL FASHION FOR THE MODERN MARKETPLACE
STEPHANIE WEAVER
WAYNE GILL
42
REBEKAH VIGIL
LINDA O' DELL
SAMI GUNNOUD
KATHERINE O' BRIEN
55
FEATURING ANGELA'S STORY
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. MATTHEW 7:13-14
04 | Hope Is Now Magazine
hope is now
ROAD LESS TRAVELED EDITION
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2023
A MAGAZINE ON ENCOURAGEMENT, FAITH, CULTURE AND HOPE
Publisher: Dion Welton
Contributors: Linda O' Dell | Sami Gunnoud | Julie Macc Stephanie Weaver | Wayne Gill | Connie Chandler | Tammie Polk | Katherine O' Brien | Dawn Hoskins | Trudy Connor | Robin Starr | Rebekah Vigil | Angela Günther |
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By: Connie Chandler
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K
Kevan started working on answering the first question: “Where did you get this backpack?” WCK partnered with the Deuter company to develop a production line of the WCK Backpack, with additional adjustable pads and straps for customized comfort. This backpack is specially designed to carry individuals with physical disabilities up to 75 pounds, so they can go where wheelchairs cannot, with the help of friends and family. “It’s such a critical resource to have access to recreational opportunities and social opportunities, and it’s something that we’ve noticed doesn’t get funded very often, especially because things that are specifically for recreation and enjoyment and fun are not ‘medically necessary,’” says Mariel Borgman, a mother who uses the backpack often to spend time outside with her son. “The service [We Carry Kevan] provides with the backpack is just an amazing tool that allows people like Asher to be able to fully explore the world.” Kevan and his team decided they needed another trip, but this time to bring their message of hope to others in need. In August 2018, Kevan made the backpack his primary mode of transportation and was carried by his friends to China. They did some sight-seeing sightseeing and walked along part of the Great Wall. Through a partnership with Show Hope, a Christian adoption aid ministry, they also visited two care centers for orphaned children with disabilities and took backpacks for them to use. That's when they realized that the backpack has more potential benefits to its passenger than they initially thought.
evan Chandler is a 36-year-old man from the foothills of North Carolina who was diagnosed at an early age with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare neuromuscular disease. He uses a power wheelchair to get around and depends on the help of others to care for his daily needs. When Kevan was six years old, he gave his heart to Jesus and received forgiveness for his sins. Ever since then, he has found his strength, joy, and hope in the Lord and has been faithful to serve and love Him however he can. Several years ago, Kevan dreamed of traveling to Europe and seeing some places that were significant to his family and faith. Inspired by the story of the disabled man lowered through a roof to see Jesus (Luke 5:17-26), Kevan asked his friends for help. Since none of the destinations he had in mind were wheelchair accessible, his friends worked together to retrofit a Deuter Kid Comfort 3 carrier backpack so that it would comfortably support him, and they could backpack through Europe together. They set up a crowd-funding page through GoFundMe, to raise funds and awareness to make this trip possible and named the campaign “We Carry Kevan.” The campaign was a success, and in June of 2016, Kevan’s friends - a team of six “medically unqualified musicians,” according to Kevan - left his wheelchair behind in the United States, put him in the backpack, and spent three weeks carrying him in France, England, and Ireland. There were plenty of exciting adventures along the way, but the show-stopper event was their hike to the top of Skellig Michael, an Irish island that was an ancient monastery. While Kevan and his team made this trip a personal challenge and celebration of their friendship, their story drew unexpected attention and an overwhelming response from people worldwide. They were repeatedly asked two questions: Where did you get this backpack? And where did you get these friends? So when they returned home, We Carry Kevan (WCK) was established as a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission to mobilize individuals with disabilities by redefining accessibility as a cooperative effort through investment, interaction, and innovation. The message is for the disabled community as well as able- bodied,” says Kevan. “We need each other to make it happen. If we are creative and courageous enough to give it a try, then the world becomes accessible.”
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"The pack is beneficial for the kids getting to experience walking and learning weight shifts that they otherwise wouldn't do," says Michaela Patterson, a physical therapist who worked at the centers. "[It exercises] core control, head control, and they can get weight bearing through their feet to help with bone density and overall joint health… Being close to caregivers helps them to attach better and learn what that healthy attachment looks like, and really just get to play the way that kids are supposed to play." Kevan is a gifted storyteller and wrote a memoir called We Carry Kevan that beautifully details his travels and the powerful lessons he and his friends have learned through their experiences. The book was published in April 2019 and can be purchased on the organization's website. It is also available in paperback and audiobook forms through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. In addition, Kevan's friends have created a documentary film and miniseries about his trips to share inspirational stories with a broader audience. Kevan continues to write and travel and enjoys speaking with individuals and groups about his testimony and how God continues to work through the ministry of WCK. In December 2022, the 2.0 edition of the backpack was released, with new improvements to its unique support and adjustment features. [photo attached] We Carry Kevan has a video tutorial on their website, and a volunteer technical consultant is available to talk directly with families about customized adjustments for individual situations. Over the past three years, over 800 backpacks have been distributed to more than 30 countries worldwide. An estimated one-third of these backpacks are distributed through a scholarship program for those who need financial assistance. As the request waiting list grew longer, WCK realized there was an impersonal disconnect between the donors and the recipients.
As a solution, WCK created a "Causes" page on their website that holds a collection of profiles with photos and stories of individuals who request sponsored backpacks. Each profile shows a financial goal, the total amount needed to cover the pack, shipping fees, and international import taxes. A progress bar indicates how much each cause has raised and what is still required. Each profile also has a personal goal, sharing briefly what trips or activities the person hopes to do with their WCK Backpack. Donors and visitors to the site can peruse the profiles and choose which ones they want to support. Donors will receive communications about when the goal has been reached, and they may decide to follow that person's backpack journey long-term. It gives families a voice and donors a personal connection, ultimately building community, which is the heart of We Carry Kevan. "We love this new way for families to be seen and heard," says Kevan. "I believe there is a sense of hospitality that can be found in our needs, if we invite people in, and this new family-specific crowdfunding platform is a perfect example. As families share their need for a backpack, community comes around them to provide and grow closer together. Our hope is that these fundraisers are just icebreakers for deeper fellowship to bloom."
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To answer the second question, "Where did you get these friends?" Kevan is investing his energy in offering friendship and connection to the people who receive backpacks - and in the spirit that defined his Europe trip, he invites others to help him. The board, staff, and volunteers of WCK seek to foster a culture of creative accessibility by collaborating with families with disabilities around the world. They do this by sharing Kevan's story as encouragement and inspiration, distributing the backpacks, traveling to visit people in their homes and communities, and having ongoing conversations about new or alternative ideas for customized access. "For us, it was not just a backpack; it was like a relationship was started," says Santiago de las Carreras, a man in Argentina who purchased the backpack to carry his wife on their honeymoon trip. "We feel like family." As this family and community of We Carry Kevan continue to grow, Kevan keeps in mind the story in Luke 5 that started it all: "[People with disabilities and their families] have stood 'outside the house,' knowing that something great was in there, whether they realize it is Jesus or not, and they needed someone to tear the roof off. The Lord has given us at least one way to do that and be a part of their lives. It's not just that we give them a backpack, but we answer that second question by saying, 'We'll be your friend! We'll carry you onto the roof, and we'll lower you down!'"Kevan has experienced the love of Jesus through the compassion and creativity of his friends, and his prayer is that through WCK, others will know that they are seen and loved and that they will have access to the forgiveness and healing of Jesus, too. You can contribute to the work of We Carry Kevan by becoming a member, sponsoring a cause, or giving a one-time donation. If you or someone you know could benefit from the WCK Backpack, you can learn about it and order it on the WCK Shop page.
Connie Chandler Connie Chandler is Kevan's sister and is also diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is honored to serve as the Director of Family Engagement at We Carry Kevan.
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healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring Give to a good Cause assisting families in sharing their story and receiving a sponsored backpack together. exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring Our hope is that no one will be excluded from owning a pack due to financial circumstances. By giving to a WCK Cause you can decide who your gift will support and connect personally to their story. healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help WCK BACKPACK 2.0 Rigorous testing exceeds federal and state standards to help ensure quality, safety, performance and functionality Height-adjustable seat and adjustable 5- point safety harness are engineered for an individual to ride comfortably and securely. Padded handles; removable chest pad; adjustable stirrups and wrist-cuffs; hip belt pocket with rear-view mirror. THE WCK BACKPACK IS A CARRIER DEVICE SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO GO WHERE WHEELCHAIRS CANNOT, WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY. *Sun shelter included — removable, adjustable Lateral support added — removable padding around sides of rib area Rider harness — better fitting, more effective, easier to use exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring healing help exploring restoring healing helping overcoming redefining living loving exploring restoring 14 | Hope Is Now Magazine
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January/February 2023 | 15
Following God's Path to Success By: Tammie Polk
I wanted the families in my community to know what
“Tammie, you’re too smart to be working for other people,” was the first piece of business advice that I received it from a strong Christian neighbor back in 2007. God blessed me with a sense of creativity that I have been able to use for His honor and glory for most of my life. Although I didn’t see His plan for me at first, I knew that there was something that I was supposed to be doing for Him. In high school, I said that I felt God was calling me to be a youth director. Even as a teenager, I took my calling seriously, spending my summers teaching backyard Bible clubs in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas for years. I was different but in a good way. I was the one who could get on a child’s level and still be an adult… most of the time! Unfortunately, my early walk with my calling was met with a lot of church hurt and rejection. In 2000, I left a church for the first time in my life and I struggled after that. I never lost my faith in God, but I did lose my faith in His church and His people because of how I’d been treated. However, God still gave me chances to use my gift of creativity. In my work with children, I was always creating some type of game or activity that no one had seen and I loved doing it. When I became a substitute teacher, this went into overdrive because it was something that schools needed. Even though I immensely enjoyed the work, I would have never thought that my biggest impact would be made with adults. In May 2013, I left the classroom to become an entrepreneur. My husband and I have been homeschool parents since 2008 and we were asked questions left and right. People couldn’t understand how we made that work when he worked at night and I worked during the day. I created a one page newsletter of our path to homeschooling and my husband gave it to anyone who had questions. Next thing I know, I found myself taking a course on building a consulting business, which was exactly what I did.
their options were right there in our hometown. I spent my days going to meet every homeschool group or entity that wanted to reach homeschoolers, gathering information for the parents I wanted to serve. Choice Home Education Consulting was born in September 2014. I became indispensable to the education community, being called upon to even help public school families with their options. It was the first time I’d ever worked with grown people, so God had to show me VERY clearly that this was what I was meant to do. Soon, I was being called to speak at different parent events, speak at homeschooling conferences, and even told I was being spied on by my former employer! In all this, God blessed me because I was able to help hundreds of families choose the best options for their children. I even had a 100% reentry rate for families who had to send their children back to school. Not one of the families I helped had a child to be held back a grade! But God wasn’t quite done with me….
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The more I focused on my books, the more I saw business owners around me change. When I broke into speaking, things went from, “Here’s the theme, so speak on this,” to, “Hey, have you written a book about this? If so, we want you to come to speak on it and bring it with you.” God was using my obedience in writing to not only build, but also to bless my business. I saw 7 figure earners going back to their husbands and asking for forgiveness after throwing their accomplishments in their faces. I heard about mothers-to-be using their maternity leaves to write out a plan to launch their own businesses. Other Christian women business coaches were buying my books to share with their audiences and clients. Non- profits were requiring the women they helped to go through my Boot Camps. Mothers were giving their struggling daughters my books to get back on track, graduate on time, and have a vision afterwards. My own daughter used my books to write reports on what it meant to be a Christian business woman. Since September 2015, I have been blessed to pen, record, and publish over 150 print, audio, and digital books. And it was all because I did what God told me to do – I started writing again. Each one of my books is its own entity within my business, especially “Girl, Go Eat A COOKIE!...and then handle business!” Now, God has given me a base to work from…. I rebranded and became Professionally Sassy, LLC because it was necessary. I didn’t understand why until a month later. In September 2019, He blessed me to walk back into a 1200 square foot building I couldn’t afford when I first started. This building houses my books, my office, my event space, and a space for women to come and work on achieving their goals. They see my bookstore as a place of hope because there they can get prayed for, questions answered, visions written and made plain, and do what God has put in their heads and hearts to do. That’s my ministry and I’m sticking to it!
“Hey, Ladies! What do y’all do to earn extra money,” was the question that launched my coaching business. I will never forget the 15 women who reached out to me because they couldn’t believe that I built a consulting business with a psychology degree and years of experience in the classroom. I took those women through the very material I’d learned from and I watched some stay the course and some fall away. Those 15 women were the group that God used to bring me to where I am now. I started Tammie Terrell Mompreneur Coaching in September 2015, but God had ONE more test for me. Que Dr. Phil….Now, this was something I didn’t normally watch but I did this for one week and I was immensely angry at what I saw—girls not wanting to tell who date raped them, girls, who lied their way through life, and more. I was so incensed that I grabbed my journal and started writing similar stories on the same issues and addressing them from the Bible. That became my first published book, right after the launch of my business. The writing was what God was leading me to do, so when I hear someone say that authors aren’t business owners, I’m one of the first to throw a literary punch. I know and have lived what God can do with writing. My first business book, The Virtuous Business Woman: Inspired by Proverbs 31, got me into trouble with a lot of stoic Christians because she was supposed to be the model wife and mother…nothing else. Not to me, she wasn’t…. This woman was the quintessential entrepreneur and seeing that in her shifted everything I knew about business! Que my business coach… After that book came out, she challenged me to come out from among everybody in the coaching industry and separate myself using my books. She had no clue of the battle that God and I fought for that book to see the light of day, but that’s another story for another day. I became a book-based coach, but the books weren’t those that people were reading. Instead, they were the ones that I was writing. My goal was to help women to see that life wasn’t standing in their way. I wanted them to realize that life was playing monkey in the middle with their dreams because they were too busy excusing away God’s greatness in their lives.
Tammie Polk Tammie T. Polk is a married homeschooling mother of 3 girls from Memphis, TN. She is also the author of over 150 books and 40 planners, speaker, trainer, life and business coach, and bookstore owner. Business Website: http://www.professionallysassy.me Speaker Website: http://www.tammieterrellmompreneurs.com Order Her Books http://www.amazon.com/author/tammiepolk
January/February 2023 | 17
y name is Robin Starr. Recently, the Holy Spirit said to me that another magazine was going to reach out to me to write for them. Then a few days later the CEO for Hope Is Now Magazine did exactly that! I love writing, I love sharing my heart and I love encouraging others and giving them hope. It’s what I do. It is who I am. So when Mr. Dion Welton asked me to write my own column for this beautiful hope filled magazine, it was challenging not to tell him “Yes!” even before he asked. Don’t you just love when God, the Creator of the Universe does His thing! Please pause there for a moment….stop your Universe and selah. God. The Creator of the Universe spoke to this mere human. And He spoke to Mr. Welton about the same time about the same thing. God the Creator of the Universe, orchestrated two paths to synchronize in the month of January 2023. The God of Hope brought together two “hope peddlers” affording me the opportunity along with the rest of his Hope Team to spread hope far and wide. Just remember God’s got a plan, bigger and better than you could ever come up with. And He can get you where you need to be, when you need to be there. Don’t you worry, God’s got your barcode and he can bring heavenly synchronization and cause His purposes for you to align with all creation in a snap. The extra bonus with God is that He can and will accelerate events to catch you up with His timeline if you are lagging behind! We just need to hold on to hope and the promises He gave us years or even decades ago. Actually, I was in the process of renewing my hopes in some outlandish dreams from about 25 years ago. When I told God, “I am ready to commit to writing more this new year, so I will need You to bring those opportunities my way.” Of course, God is not my genie, but this sometimes self sufficient human was reminding herself and Him, how much I needed Him. I endeavor to work as if it all depends on me, but then I must also remember to lean, trust and pray as if it all depends on Him. And being this faulty human that I am, I can easily get them switched! Sometimes, the simplest and shortest prayers are the most powerful. And we too often, overthink, overwork, and can overwhelm ourselves when we overlook that God says his grace is sufficient. His spontaneous, unmerited gift of divine favor and divine influence operating in us is our enabling power. Enabling us to do and to be what we cannot do and cannot be if left to merely our own means. Humans By: Robin Starr Hi Beautiful M
I have loved to write since I was itty bitty. I wrote poems and songs mostly about heartbreak and daddys disappearing and a mom that left three small children home alone for days at a time. Compassionately I say that, but she was busy looking for love but in all the wrong places, when she had plenty waiting by the door and watching out the window for her to return. But I also wrote about the inspirations I saw in creation as I still do. I would know I hit a depth of intangible realities as I wrote, when one word or one sentence would literally leave me undone. Oftentimes, it was the working of the Holy Spirit as a youngster writing in my notebook sitting on my bed. When older, I followed this same vein when preparing for sermons when I pastored for 20 years, or prepared what I would share as I spoke at an event. I confidently knew that I stepped into the river of life and I was the carrier of light and love for the audience I would be sharing with. So it is with you as well. When we are not afraid to be vulnerable with the Maker of our hearts, and then courageous to take his heart beat via words, spoken or written to a hungry and thirsty generation, we go from “hope holders” to being fountains of living waters. For “Out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38 A vital truth concerning living waters having fluid flow, can be found in the Scripture, “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” When we don’t, our inner spring can become contaminated and clogged up with all sorts of toxic dead junk, that will not benefit you or the hearer. I recall being newly married, and constantly getting that Scripture. Imagine that. I could not for the life of me interpret completely what this was to mean to me. Though I studied it for years, yet it would be many years before I could fully comprehend the sobriety of that Scripture and how it could have saved me from many ills. But I did not know what I did not know. But God did. I have always been really big on “God is love.” And since God was love, and if “you do all these marvelous things but yet you do not possess love, you are nothing but a loud noisy gong.” Therefore, I made it my ambition to not merely possess love, but become love. What better way to to become like my Father and to be Christ like. Not only be loving, possessing love, but actually become love.
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In my ambition to become love like God Himself and to love like Him, I was on what I thought was the most necessary quest any human could embark on. As a young school girl growing up, I rarely saw or felt loved. On one such occasion I vividly recall, as I went to Sunday School by myself while the rest of the family stayed in bed, there was a special service so we were in the adult service. And I don’t know how I found myself with the honor, at approximately six years of age, invited to sit by the Pastor’s wife. But I remember she seemed like a woman of stature, and she had the fullest, longest and most loving arms that she wrapped around me. I found myself sinking into a soft, safe and secure space as I fell asleep on the church pew in her embrace. What a sweet love defined as well as a precious memory. One of the few memories that I actually can recall, since I don’t have many memories, the result of chronic childhood trauma. Since a small child, I would devour any literature I found on Psychology and Science. I read somewhere how important hugs were to the well being of us as individuals. Since I didn’t experience hugs or loving words, I made an inner vow that I was going to be a hugger and always tell everyone I met something lovely about themselves. As a child, somehow I had this knowing that what the world really needed was to be loved. And what better way to express love than to hug the whole world one person at a time! So my quest to fill the world with love and tangible love in the form of a hug became a quiet obsession. I grew up greatly influenced by Cinderella and how life was supposed to be. I could not wait to marry my handsome prince. Only to marry someone though they were a fairly new Christian but they were not the affectionate type. Nor were they a hugging or kissing kind of person. Nor were they a talking kind of person, one who shared feelings, thoughts, dreams and hopes. And they were not a listening type of person either. Similar to how I grew up with emotional abandonment, unfortunately history was repeating itself for me. Many years later I would come to realize that I was merely an accessory to fit their persona. I was a commodity. A thing. A possession. A piece of property. I was an extension to their formulated identity. And over time I would lose my opinions, my dreams, any contradicting ideology, and become a Stepford Wife. We had the perfect pseudomutuality, a relationship that had a superficial appearance of mutual openness and understanding although in fact the relationship was rigid, shallow and hollow and depersonalizing. Later this was utterly devastating when faced with the reality that I had been living and participating in someone’s falsehood. In the process, my identity and personality DNA was stolen. And in reality for them, I did not exist and in attempting to, would result in more grooming and stripping of my individualism. In any attempt to “exist” would be met with punishment to reinforce, I was to be nothing. And this fit perfectly with the Scriptures that I researched regularly along the lines of being, “A living sacrifice”, and “Dying to oneself”. You don’t have to annihilate someone who willingly lies down and simply and slowly just disappears.
Proverbs 4:23
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
When we share with a person who really doesn't authentically care about us, we are throwing precious pearls before swine when we share pieces of ourselves in transparency and truth. To share such priceless treasures with someone who is not trustworthy is extremely risky! They can exploit you much like what King David experienced, "They pretend they care, but they are only gathering information to gossip, slander and lie about me." With a toxic person, everything you share not only can be used against you, but very well will be used against you. It could be the simplest thing as when you tell them, "I love when I get beautiful cards from you. They say so much and since you are not really a word person, they mean even more to me.” And then the next occasion, you now get no card, or you receive a general type card with no special meaning or beautiful loving words in it. This is pretty minor, compared to even more of the hurtful things they can contrive. You never tell a toxic person what you like and what you don't like. Lest you give your pearls to someone who will stomp on them and then turn around and attack you for them. We are to guard our hearts with great caution. This has always been one of my main spiritual goals. I always saw it as a companion Scripture to, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". So, I was always extremely diligent over my love life spiritually and the condition of my heart's health. Very vigilant, that I never permitted a root of bitterness to grow within my soul. But in hindsight, I see so many truths that I never heard nor contemplated from this Scripture and in the past it cost me dearly. I see more relatedly, how guarding your heart assists you in knowing who actually are the swine that you should be cautious and slow to share the pieces of your soul with. And to always be mindful, that people can change and not always for the best. Because in Proverbs 20:6 says, "Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?" Or, "Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?"
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Too often, had we proceeded with more caution into our friendships, relationships, or partnerships, it would not have been necessary to guard against bitterness and unforgiveness. Neither to heal from unnecessary narcissistic trauma or recover lost pieces of ourselves. The bible clearly states that, "A wise person is cautious in relationships." So, when someone demands that you should trust them, that's an indication of a person you should definitely proceed with great caution into a relationship with, if even at all. For trust is earned and never an entitlement. The amount of caution that we drive our relationships with, will ultimately end up determining the quality of life that will spring forth and that we experience on this side of heaven. The happy ending to this emotional saga is that I have found purpose in the pain I have experienced. I figure I experienced it, so you don’t have to! And if you have, through my experience, expertise and certifications I can help individuals accelerate their healing as an Empowerment and Image Coach. I wish I would have had someone that did what I do in empowering empaths and healing the fragmented parts of the soul. There just wasn’t back then. Though talk therapy has its place. But with trauma, and especially with Narcissistic Trauma, talk therapy can actually retrigger trauma and continue to keep a person stuck in the trauma! I love the different techniques I have learned about brain science; I mix them with biblical spiritual insights thus creating a radiant transformation for a life full of hope and fulfillment. On your healing journey, remember it is a life-time journey and not a one time event! And show yourself the same compassion and patience you would with a dear friend. Become your own beautiful bestie along the way! And if something in my story resonated with your story, I would love for you to share!
Robin Starr Robin Starr is an advocate for women who empowers Christian women to shine inside and out after Toxic Traumatic relationships.
20 | Hope Is Now Magazine
January/February 2023 | 21
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CHOICES MONEY SIMPLE
DID YOU KNOW IN 2015 ID THEFT WAS THE FASTEST-GROWING CRIME AND WAS DIFFICULT TO REMOVE FROM THE CREDIT REPORT. NOW THANKFULLY IT'S EASY!
CREDIT GET HELP FROM A EXPERT
DIY CREDIT WORKBOOK
TIPS
FOR DIY CREDIT REPAIR & IDENTITY THEFT ISSUES
TRICKS
&
DIY CREDIT RESTORATION
10 IDENTITY THEFT DAYS TO FIX
January/February 2023 | 23
TOP
CREDIT By: Julie Macc
MYTH CONCEPTIONS OF Most of us carry around mental images of the life we would like to be living. Whether we achieve that life depends on many factors; after our faith, for many the most important element for our “dream fulfillment” is creating concrete financial stability. In today’s economy, that can be quite the challenge, not to mention the unexpected life experiences that pop up along the way! I am the first to admit that I have also experienced challenges I am now grateful for along my divinely created path to financial stability, and it is those life lessons that led me to find my life’s joy and passion to Found a financial literacy program, Simple Money Choices and write a book “DIY Credit Restoration” as a companion piece. Everyone reading this already knows that your personal credit file impacts your life and 85% of consumers have inaccurate or wrong information on their personal credit report. Despite what several “financial gurus” have told you, to survive today, you need a credit card to use in emergencies! The media, newspapers, and internet are full of incorrect information regarding Credit. One of the things that we want to make available to you, your family, and friends, and everyone else whose financial lives you touch are facts about how credit works and reports on your consumer credit report.
MYTH # 2: Your credit score only counts when you're looking to borrow money. HUGE Myth! Your credit score right now is looked at for almost everything you do. When you are applying for a job, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, or contractors bond, among others they look at your credit score and they look at your credit history. That's why it's so important to monitor your credit and clean it up if needed. MYTH #3: Signing up for a “self” reporting service that you see advertised that will “boost” my score. It does not in fact “boost your FICO® score. Only large companies such as your bank, credit card issuers, and so on that are in contract with the Consumer Data Industry (CDIA)can report to FICO® databank for a score. If you read the fine print, the bureaus are offering a “Vantage” score which the lenders do not use. The information collected when you sign up and remain in the system can be used to resell you more products! And do you really want to provide these companies with all your financial information they store for your lifetime? Look at all the times they have all had security hacks! MYTH # 4: Too many accounts will hurt; so, you must close accounts. This is a HUGE myth! 15% percent of your score is based on the average age of your accounts. Fact, the OLDER the revolving account, the BETTER! The FICO® system loves old accounts with a good paying history! MYTH #5: Piggy backing does not work anymore. It's another myth. Piggybacking is when you are added to or you add someone to a open revolving account as an authorized user. FICO 08® was supposed to change the way piggybacking rules were, but they have since decided to change that (lawsuit).
Below are a few financial facts to help you lead your path to financial stability.
MYTH #6: Opting out will increase your score. Opting out is when a consumer decides not to have their information sold for pre-screened offers. While this
MYTH #1: You share a credit score with your spouse. Untrue! Your spouse and your credit report and credit scores are looked at individually. It is based on your social security number, which is unique to you. If you get an authorized user account (also known as "piggybacking") for your spouse, that will also appear on the report. However, if none of your accounts are joint, and you don't have any authorized user accounts, there will be nothing that will affect your individual score.
may help prevent Identity Theft, there are no point gains for the FICO® score.
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MYTH #7: Multiple auto or mortgage loan inquiries will hurt your score for each inquiry. The truth is the score was affected with older scoring methods, but now you can have multiple inquiries for an auto loan in a 30-day period and 45 days for mortgage loans which will only count for one inquiry as consumers often shop for a better rate. MYTH #8: It will take 7 years to improve my score. Most negative items will remain for 7 years. It is possible to remove negative information that is incorrect, past the statute for reporting or that does not belong to you such as a collection. What is being reported one day or even one month can disappear the next day with a dispute to the credit bureau reporting it. MYTH #9: A serious financial crisis like a foreclosure or bankruptcy will hurt your score for 7-10 years: There are ways to reestablish your credit and raise your score after a financial crisis. MYTH #10: “Checking my own credit report harms my credit score ."You can personally view your own credit as often as you want, and it won't affect your score negatively at all. MYTH #11: Consolidating into a low-interest credit card will increase your score. The interest rate of your cards has no effect on your score at all and opening a new line of credit will reduce the score for 6 months until the FICO® system starts adding points for on-time payments. MYTH #12: Going over the balances on your credit limits is ok because the credit company authorized the purchase. That is not true because what will show on your report is the amount of credit that you used versus your credit limit, and you will lose points for being over the limit.
Julie Macc Julie Macc, Certified Credit/Identity Theft Specialist and author is a recognized expert on credit reporting for both consumer and business credit scoring. She is the author of " DIY Credit Restoration", "10 Days To Fix Identity Theft" and currently writing a book on how to establish business credit with no personal guarantee. Her books include the same methods used at a law firm. Julie serves as an expert witness/legal consultant for law firms practicing consumer credit law in both federal and state court. She has been retained as an expert witness for more than 200 consumer credit litigation cases involving lenders, banks, collection agencies, each of the three major consumer credit bureaus, and third ‐ party credit furnishers. She has developed and led hundreds of credit score training seminars/courses for mortgage, banking and real estate professionals, as well as for general consumer audiences. She delivers keynote speeches at mortgage, real estate and other financial service industry meetings for both continued education training and to educate and update industry professionals on the current laws and reporting trends. Julie was elected to Chair the National Women's Money® Board of Directors. During her spare time, Julie loves spending time outside gardening and at my family's ranch "horsing" around with the horses.
While the consumer score you get free online is most often the “Vantage®” score, it scores differently than the FICO® score.
I hope these tips will help you on your financial journey.
Best Wishes, Julie Macc, Author of DIY CREDIT RESTORATION www.restartcredit.net
January/February 2023 | 25
GREAT FALLS
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Help Us Continue to Serve Volunteer Donate Food and Hygiene Products Send Check to P.O. Box 2982 Great Falls, *All numbers since Youth Resource Center opened in May 2020 We Are Making An Impact 600+ Youth Served 8,000+ Meals Served 5,000+ Rides to Access Services 700+ Hours of Tutoring 80+ Youth Re-engaged in School 100+ Youth Utilized Mental Health Support Groups 1,000+ Backpacks and 600+ Pairs of Shoes Provided 200+ Free Haircuts
Youth in Great Falls Need Your Support In 2021, the graduation rate for homeless youth in Great Falls was only 52% In Cascade County, substantiated cases of child abuse/neglect rose from 129 in 2015 to 301 in 2021 Nearly 400 children are in foster care in Cascade County More than 20% of high school students in Cascade County reported seriously considering attempting suicide in the past 12 months and 12% reported attempting suicide
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January/February 2023 | 27
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January/February 2023 | 29
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January/February 2023 | 31
HERO RODEO The rugged Rocky Mountain front of Montana with its wide and rolling prairies, steep pine covered mountains and clear, shimmering lakes is as far as one can imagine from the bright lights and runaways of the fashion world. It is however, in this most unlikely of spots, that a small Native American owned business is making splashes in the fashion world’s pond.The Company that has cast the ripple causing stones is Hero Rodeo. While new to the fashion industry, Hero Rodeo is no stranger to causing a stir in the marketplace. The company has a history of innovation. The owners, Ben and Christine Collins, are proud to call their Montana home of Browning the business headquarters, and they attribute much of the company’s success to the help and support of family and friends.Hero Rodeo is proud of its Native American roots and inspires people from all walks of life. Founded in 2017 by Ben Collins, a cowboy hat sporting entrepreneur, Hero Rodeo has developed a hatful of handy and useful products. The company’s first product was called the Hero Breakaway; it was a money and time saving device used by cowboys and cowgirls while they practiced the skill of roping cattle. With the help of an Avon Lake, Ohio based company called 3dworxs that specializes in bringing ideas to life, more products were soon ready for retail shelves. The Hero Breakaway was quickly followed up by its predecessor the Super Hero Breakaway and a product for young cowboys and cowgirls called the Sidekick Breakaway. According to the company’s founder, “We like to develop products that are useful [to our customers] and solve some sort of a problem. Our most important goal with any product is to somehow make lives [of our customers] better.”
Hero Rodeo has a reputation of innovation that is embraced wholeheartedly by everyone involved with the company. Some would say that Hero Rodeo and its team members, are cut from a different cloth.And perhaps, it was that different cloth that led Christine and her daughters Mikalen and Jonilee Running Fisher to spearhead a clothing division in the company. Christine Collins, Jonilee Running Fisher and Mikalen Running Fisher are all enrolled members of the Blackfeet Tribe and were raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of northern Montana. It was this wild, big sky land and the rich, living, ancient traditions of tribal culture that helped this fashion trio form their uniquely native sense of style and a passion for authenticity. Their keen eye for validity in native fashion has led to the creation of several of styles of shirts, skirts, jackets, coats, and caps. Native Americans have a unique style that is found in the numerous different outfits and regalia. Clothing made by indigenous peoples was not only beautiful and eye catching but functional as well. For untold millennia Native Americans of all tribes intricately beaded, sewed, painted and adorned their clothing. Every item was unique and expertly made by hand. The ingenuity and the individuality of each garment was incredible; indeed, each item was a work of art custom fitted and designed to reflect the personality of its owner. Traditionally, many different items were used on clothing to display an individual’s conquests or their societal status. Some of the most common items used for decoration were feathers, hides of various animals, elk ivory, claws, horns or carved bones. Native American clothing was built for function. Individual tribes had specialized techniques for producing clothing that was best suited to their climate and way of life. Ages of experience passed orally through generations allowed indigenous Americans to survive and thrive in style.
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