In 1984 I was 28, married and had two young children.  I was a carpenter by default and my experience was we had no money.  I remember wanting to go to the movies one night and scrounging for lost change in the sofa cushions.  On my father's 70th birthday, my family missed the celebration.  I had neither a car that would make the five-hour trip nor the money to rent one.  While I longed for more material security, i rationalized my circumstances as the result of my Spiritual focus.  I believed that Spirit and matter were irreconcilable.  I "chose" the Spiritual life.  I was sure money and God were not compatible.  I couldn't see that one aspect of my belief system was a smoke screen for playing it safe and avoiding failure in something I termed the "real world."

Life's current began revealing to me that material abundance and my spiritual values were not exclusive.  I joined a group studying "A Course in Miracles" and in the session I declared that I would "make" $10,000 in the month of September, I wrote my promise on a piece of paper.  It was April and I had never made even one-fifth that amount in any given month.  Soon my declaration was forgotten.  In August a commercial roofing job came to my attention.  The job was way beyond my skills requiring specialized equipment and training.  I bid it without any experience and without a clue of how I would get it done.  I received the contract, subcontracted commercial roofers, and profited $10,000 in September.  It was a month later I remembered my written declaration and awakened to the connection between my word and my world.