At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
The Mystery of God’s Will by Charles R. Swindoll
Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“
Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
[00:00:00] <Music>
Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.
[00:00:19] <Music>
Laura Dugger: TreStique's mission is to provide a customizable and simple makeup solution for your lifestyle. To do that, they offer high-performance products and travel-friendly, personalized routines that save time and empower you to accomplish your goals and do the things that you love. Visit them today at Trestique.com and use the code savvy15 for $15 off your first order of $50 or more.
Have you been looking for creative ways to invest in your relationship with your spouse and with your family? You can do this from your home with zero preparation with Night in Boxes. For more information visit nightinboxes.com.
Gary & Marla Ringger are my guests today. They are very special to me for many reasons. But first, because we're related. So our families have grown up near each other and I have witnessed them live a life faithful to God and each other. They're going to share their story today about their journey from business to ministry, and they'll tell how they involved their family in this process along the way.
Gary has recently authored a book titled Radical Business: From Ownership to Stewardship, which I highly recommend. You're going to hear a few takeaways from that book and learn more about their ministry Lifesong for Orphans. Here's our chat.
[00:01:43] Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Gary and Marla.
Marla Ringger: Thanks. It's great to be here, Laura.
Gary Ringger: It's good to be here.
Laura Dugger: So glad to have you join us. Will you just start us off today by giving more context about yourselves and your family?
Marla Ringger: Gary and I have been married for 42 years. We have three daughters and 15 grandchildren. We met through our church youth group, though, all those many years ago. He became a Christian at age 18. I did at 17, and then we just ran in the same circles. And God just knew that I needed Gary and I think he needed me as well.
Gary Ringger: I would also add to that that 9 of our 15 grandkids are adopted. Marla and I never adopted, but as we'll talk about later, we started an adoption ministry and our kids have really taken that up. So it's been a journey. We hadn't expected to have 15 grandkids, 9 of them being adopted.
Marla Ringger: And actually we're a multicultural family because we have one grandson from Guatemala, we have two grandchildren from China, three grandchildren adopted through foster care, a little boy named Friday from Uganda, and then our daughter, Leslie has two teenagers living with her from Zambia that are part of our family. So they are part of that mix.
Laura Dugger: [00:03:11] That's incredible. And your story has so many unexpected twists and turns. We're going to hear more about that today. Will you just give us some background on your journey into Radical Business?
Gary Ringger: Yeah. So I started out as a college kid. And just getting out of college, I should say, I was a scared kid, not knowing what to do. I went to work for Dad. He had this small family feed business. I didn't know what else to do, so I went to work for Dad.
But early on in that, I learned that I really liked business. So by the time I was in my early 30s, I decided that we had good success in the feed business, I want to start a second business. I had gone to Kraft Plant in Champaign, Illinois, and I saw the different rooms of different processes, and I was really impressed by the opportunity to be in the food business.
So I started looking around to start another business. Our feed company at that point was called Ringger Feeds. So I started the second business called The Ringger Foods. And I told Marla that this is going to be really big. We're going to get rich and I'm going to retire at 40. That was what I was thinking.
But as we started that business, again, Ringger Feeds had had some success and I was pretty self-confident. But now starting Ringger Foods, pretty much immediately from the beginning, we were losing money. And I was realizing I was making people food instead of pig food, and I was realizing I didn't know how to do that and I started freaking out, if you will, about food safety.
So just started eating at me. And night after night, about one, two in the morning, I would wake up in a cold sweat, heart beating in my head, and I would lay there thinking all kinds of dark thoughts like, "God forbid, we're going to kill somebody." And then because I wasn't sleeping—and this lasted for 3 to 5 months—I got to the point where I was sleep deprived and then depression and desperation hit.
Marla Ringger: We had three little girls at the time. I know Gary was struggling at times but for me, it wasn't this real awareness of what he was going through, because I think he kept it in a lot. But I do remember one night, especially when he woke up and he was just in a cold sweat and he just said, "Marla, you just got to pray for me." So we got down on our knees and I prayed for him.
So I knew he was really going through something but I was so preoccupied with the girls at the time that it wasn't an ongoing thing for me, but it definitely was bigger to him.
Laura Dugger: [00:05:56] And I think a lot of couples can relate to that. Because at this point, how old were your girls?
Marla Ringger: Oh, they were probably six, four, and two.
Laura Dugger: So you were very hands-on at that point.
Marla Ringger: Yes.
Laura Dugger: And Gary, you kind of internalize some of this more-
Gary Ringger: Yeah, I internalized it. And it really taught me even for wives to know their husband if they're being stressed out. I was sleep-deprived. So it taught me how fine that line is between doing well and being a mess. I mean, I was never close to committing suicide because of my fear of God, but I actually had thoughts like that. I cried a lot. I was just a mess.
But it was really a great experience in general because God was breaking of me that goal to get rich and retire at 40. So ultimately, as I would be crying out in desperation and praying to God at night, I felt my mind shift. I wanted to quit, but I didn't feel peace about that. I wanted to quit Ringger Foods, Ringger Feeds was doing great, so let's just quit Ringger Foods. But I didn't feel peace about
And ultimately, what I felt God directing is to have a different paradigm about business. And that led to just a handwritten contract. It was a contract that basically said, God, if this business ever succeeds, and at that point, it was a failure, God, if this business ever succeeds and we sell it, we'll pay ourselves back what we invested with 8% interest, anything over and above that will be used for ministry purposes. And that contract was life-changing. That changed my whole paradigm on business, and if you will, lead me into Radical Business.
Laura Dugger: [00:07:39] I love those stories. And I think both of you are great storytellers. I want listeners to hear how did God meet you personally, through the Reader's Digest article?
Gary Ringger: I'm gonna preface that with saying, right after the contract-
Marla Ringger: You should tell to that you wrote this contract down on a notebook paper, like a spiral notebook sheet of paper that he pulled out, ripped out, and he just signed exactly what he had said earlier, and he had a space for his dad to sign who was half owner, and that he signed. That was as simple as it was.
Gary Ringger: But what happened then, my fear... that now I'm in a more of a tangible partnership with God. So when you're in depression, you don't get into it right away, you don't get out of it right away. So I'm still a mess and still have a business, I don't know what I'm doing, but every morning I got up and I got into this pattern. We're fortunate in that we have a hot tub right outside our bedroom, and I get into the hot tub and I start thinking through the Lord's Prayer.
And when I would get to "give us today our daily bread", I would start asking God, what do I do about this? What do I do about that? I had never really prayed that much about business before, and I think that was because my motives were wrong. You know, how do you say, God help me with this business so I can get rich and retire? But now I'm struggling. I'm in this tangible partnership with Him.
[00:09:07] So I started asking Him and started hearing Him in ways more direct ways than I ever had before. And that leads to your question on Reader's Digest. At one point later in the journey, Ringger Foods was starting to become successful. We were starting to do well and Nestlé had asked us to cook some cookies for them.
So we were cooking products for them and we were running through some issues. One of the great things about those big companies, they really guide us. They really helped us know what we were doing and they had their technical people. And they were setting up some technical people to help us do this well.
Well, roughly 5 minutes before three technical people from Nestlé walked in our door, I get a call from our quality assurance young lady, and she was crying. They had just tested the product that we were making for Nestlé and it had the potential of having listeria, which is a bacteria that can be fatal. And she was crying. She said, "We may have listeria in this product." And then they walked in.
So I'm, by nature, transparent and so I was shaken and I was crying. But I just shared with them what happened. They were great. They'd been there, seen it all before. And they explained to me that what you have is the first test and you now need to take a second test to confirm it. So we didn't know we really had a problem or not.
So we said, okay, we'll test it. And they were going to guide us through the issue. I went home and told Marla, "I think this is the end of Ringger Foods." I just felt that way. And she was kind of used to me up and down. And she said, "Nah." She said, "You just go relax, go and get relax." So I did.
And what was really interesting, on the Reader's Digest the day before, I had been reading a story in the Reader's Digest, which is not exactly a spiritual book, but it was good stories. And this particular story was written from a secular view, but they were talking about how prayer changes things. The day before I had started it, they were talking about people being prayed for in hospitals and stuff like that.
Laura, the couple sentences after I started reading again, it had this basically sentence and they said, "Even more astounding than this is they have found that prayer can change bacteria results in laboratories." I was like, wow. Because here I am just thinking everything is falling apart because we're waiting on this, we're going to wait on this bacteria result from a laboratory. And I've never read anything like that before or after.
Laura Dugger: [00:12:07] Yeah, God is so personal.
Gary Ringger: So I called up some friends and said, "We're supposed to pray." And that's what happened. A couple of days later, it came back fine. So I don't know for sure how He worked that, but I do know He talked to me very personally there. I love, like you said, it's a personal touch. Yes.
Laura Dugger: [00:12:29] Absolutely. It's so touching to hear those stories. There was two things going on at the same time. You're raising your family, you're doing all of this with business. Marla, what was your day-to-day looking like at this point?
Marla Ringger: I was just a busy mom. I wasn't a homeschooler, so, you know, by the time they went into school, I had free days that I... I was a stay-at-home mom. And so Gary was... he had this career and this was my career. I just trusted him a lot with business decisions. I think that's also part of our... He would tell me about things and I would listen but I left the decisions on business up to him because he pretty much left the running of the household up to me.
Gary Ringger: She was always very supportive.
Marla Ringger: I was supportive, yeah. I rarely questioned... once in a while, but rarely.
Gary Ringger: And if I was going up and down, which I have a tendency to do, she was more the rock, if you will. Things didn't stress her up like they did me.
Marla Ringger: But then I also wasn't living that stress like he was.
Laura Dugger: [00:13:41] But it sounds like prayer was really important to both of you, that that's something maybe that you united you through all of it.
Marla Ringger: Definitely. And I noticed a big difference in him and with his relationship with the Lord because of the struggle and actually prompted me to... I mean, we both love our quiet time. We both love our mornings where we just are quiet with the Lord on our own. It's always been a real... that part's been a real joy.
Gary Ringger: Yeah. And I would say prior to the contract, prayer was a discipline. I mean, I did it and I was a believer. But after the contract and I started going through that and experiencing God in more tangible ways, it became my favorite part of the day. And it was more of a relaxed prayer sitting in the hot tub, sometimes falling asleep. Before it was more like on my knees, 5 minutes. And if my mind wanders, slap my hand, I can't do that.
Now, it's a 45-minute, two-hour time with the Lord, with my best friend every morning. It just became my favorite part of the day and still is.
Laura Dugger: [00:14:49] Now let's take a brief break to hear a message from two of our sponsors.
Sponsor: TreStique was created to help you redefine your relationship with beauty for the better. They encourage you to discover a new relationship with your makeup or improve the one you currently have so you can simplify your routine, reclaim your time, and find peace with the complexity of makeup. They value smart beauty. That's why they offer innovative, super efficient, convenient products and routines that are customized to you.
Their approach to doing makeup is simple. From the products to the application to the bag you carry it all in, they offer everything you need and nothing you don't so you can save time on applying your makeup every day. And as a community of like-minded women, they created products with real beauty standards in mind.
Their mission is to provide a customizable and simple makeup solution for your lifestyle because they believe that everyone gets to a point where they not only want a simpler relationship with makeup, but they need it. Go to trestique.com. There you can build your customized routine today. And don't forget to use the code savvy15 for $15 off your first order of $50 or more. This is limited to one use per customer and I hope that you visit them today.
Sponsor: We want to say thank you to our sponsor Night in Boxes. They do all of the work and research fun activities and then ship you a box each month so that you can invest in your most meaningful relationships. Each date night in box includes interactive activities with ambiance and a tasty treat to bring couples together in meaningful ways. For families who order a night in a box, you will also receive a box with interactive activities and a tasty treat all centered around life lessons.
Night in Boxes hopes to bring children together with an influential adult in a creative, fun, and meaningful way. We first tried the Faith Family box and our children were giddy when our box arrived in the mail. I loved having an intentional family night to look forward to that took no preparation for me.
In addition to receiving a custom-curated experience each month, you will also become part of a community that allows for an experience to be enjoyed beyond the box. So gift your loved one with a subscription today. Visit nightinboxes.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.
Laura Dugger: [00:17:13] So it sounds like prayer really united both of you together during this whole process. But let's also expand the topic a little bit more to parenting too because you had three girls. Was prayer important to them during this process as well?
Marla Ringger: Yeah. We were pretty authentic with our kids. I mean, we just basically would tell it like it is. So when we had them pray, we really wanted them to pray their hearts. We didn't do the rote prayers that often. We probably started that way.
And it was really neat because at times Gary when he would come home stressed or he knew he had a business decision to make, he would actually go to the girls. I mean, all through their childhood and he would ask them to pray for him on this certain business decision. And it really tied our family together because they took an interest in what he was going through.
Gary Ringger: And I would say two things on that. One is, later at our 25th anniversary, they wrote a book and basically-
Marla Ringger: 40 things I love about mom and dad.
Gary Ringger: Mom and dad. And what was interesting, because I remember when I was going through the ups and downs and struggling, like Marla says, sharing with them, they really appreciated that because it showed them the realness. And then when cool things happen, like the Reader's Digest thing, they would know that, too.
[00:18:44] One other thing I will say, I mean, during that time, there were times where I was so focused on the business that I was not into it the way I should have been with my family. I mean, I was always faithful, but I was really… my mind would be away sometimes. I'd be there, but I wouldn't be there.
But the one thing I did do right was I always put the three girls to bed. That was my job. And I would stand... We had two bedrooms, two girls in one and one in the other bedroom. And I would play the guitar and I'd sing songs and they'd have their favorites. Then I pray with them. And then while they were little, I would lay down with them. I'd a lot of times fall asleep.
But what I found is that kids when they go to bed is a very tender time, and that's when you can reach them. And we would always say, "What's the most important thing that you're going to do when you grow up?" And that's to repent and give your life to the Lord. That was a nightly thing that we would say, you know. And then they would pray, "God give me grace, that when it's the right time that I will give my life to the Lord in a meaningful way."
I always told them, "As long as you're praying that day by day, you're going to know when the right time to give your life to the Lord and He'll be faithful." So it was a great thing.
Marla Ringger: [00:20:02] And thankfully, we weren't living in a vacuum. We had close friends who raised their kids very similar to the way we did. So there was that positive peer pressure for our kids with families who we all wanted that same thing. So there wasn't a lot of that pulling away because somebody gets to do something they didn't. So I mean, we weren't unique in that. Our dear friends raised their kids very similarly as we all tried to do. Because we had that one goal was that they grow to know the Lord, right, personally.
Gary Ringger: That was just the thing that every night... in my routine with them, nothing else matters outside of that. If you do give your life to the Lord, that's the whole thing.
Marla Ringger: And I remember one instance in particular when... this was back when we were still working with the feeds business because we were traveling to... Right? Wasn't that what the feed business when we traveled to Holland and we were going to fly overseas and we were sitting at the dinner table? And I still remember Leslie, she was probably in fourth grade, and her eyes got wide when she knew we were going to fly over the ocean and it kind of freaked her out. And she says, "What if the plane crashes?"
Gary Ringger: And I was frankly freaking out about that a little myself because it was my first flight overseas.
Marla Ringger: [00:21:24] And it happened that just that week or the week before, Dr. Dobson had his heart attack. I was an avid listener of Focus on the Family. And he was being wheeled into surgery and his son Ryan was there. And he told his son, Ryan, he said, "I don't know what's going to happen, if I'm going to come out of this or not. But the most important thing to me is that you will be there in heaven so that when I am there, I will see you there too." And so "be there" kind of became our family motto.
Gary Ringger: Yes. And the way we said goodnight, "Goodnight, and I love you. Be there." That's always the way we said good night.
Marla Ringger: You know, I'm telling you, we told the girls that. Just the most important thing is that you'd be there. So heaven forbid our plane won't crash, but if it does, you remember to be there in heaven. And yeah, Leslie especially... well, all of them-
Gary Ringger: Yeah, still do that. And my license plate is "be there five" because there were five of us.
Marla Ringger: "Goodnight. I love you. Be there." That's all. Those would be the last things we'd hear every night before they go to bed. So that was kind of a sweet memory.
Laura Dugger: [00:22:28] That is so memorable. Be there. And like you said, any parent can relate to that. That's the ultimate goal.
Hey, everyone, we're now scheduling sponsors for 2020 and we would love to partner with you and promote your brand. Have you been thinking about it for a while? We hope that you reach out to us today and check our pricing. Each sponsor gets a message at the beginning of each episode and during the middle. We also link to your social media page the week your sponsorship airs, and we're going to link to your website on our resources page.
At this time, we're in all 50 United States and over 90 countries around the world. We would love to help get your name out there to our audience. So we hope you inquire today by emailing us at info@thesavvysauce.com.
Laura Dugger: [00:23:13] Let's switch back to your book. Because in your book you mention that God's timing is perfect. So do you have a story that you could use to illustrate that thought?
Gary Ringger: Yes. So a story that relates to my dear wife, since we're talking about the whole relationship, as this time went by, Ringger Foods started to become successful and I started getting offers periodically to sell the company. And at one point there was an offer that I was interested in but Marla was not. And we had it as just a standard: if there's anything major, we're not going to do this unless we're in agreement, in peace with it.
So one night, frankly, we were on the way to church and we went by our plant and I looked at Marla and I said, "I'm mad at you." She goes, "What? Why are you mad at me?" And I said, "Because I want to sell the company and you're not at peace with it. We have basically three customers. If we lose one of those customers, we're in trouble." And Mara said, "Oh, Gary, you'll figure it out." And I said, "Yeah, easy for you to say." So that was our little conversation. I wasn't really mad at her, but I was just frustrated.
Well, within that week I was on a plane going down to visit one of these customers, and I was in the plane 30,000 feet up reading a book by Chuck Swindoll, and it was called The Mystery of God's Will. And the reason why I was reading that, I'm still searching this out. I'm trying to figure out what God wants us to do.
But as I read, I read it, it was a chapter he was talking about fear. And as he was talking about that, 1 Timothy came to mind where it says, "God is not the spirit of fear, but He's a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. And I knew there I just... you know, sometimes where you can read and you just know God's talking. I knew He's talking to me. I knew I wanted to sell because of fear. So I just a peace about it.
So I did my business, I checked in the hotel and I called up Marla. She answered, and I said, "Hey, babe, I got something to share with you." And she said, "Wait, I've got something to share with you." I'll let her share what she shared.
Marla Ringger: [00:25:25] Well, just that morning I had listened to Focus on the Family, and lo and behold, Chuck Swindoll was being interviewed on his book, The Mystery of God's Will, and he talked about fear and that fear should not keep you from doing what God is calling you to do or you shouldn't react out of fear because of that verse that Gary just quoted.
Gary Ringger: So it was just like, wow, God spoke the same verse, the same messenger. And then she said, kind of real cute to me and "I don't want you to be mad at me, but I'll support you whatever you want to do. But I don't want you selling out of fear." And then I was able to share, you know, how God spoke to us together. So we never looked back.
But the reason why that's perfect timing is what was cool is that company was going to give us a certain amount down and then the answer would come. I was going to stay working for them for like four or five years.
Well, what happened within a year or two, that company went broke, so we would have just got the first payment. And what happened within two years of that, God opened the doors in a very plain way when Marla was at peace, we had been praying about it. He opened it in a clear way that if I wouldn't listen to my dear wife and if she wouldn't have been listening and just not at peace with it, and if he wouldn't have spoken to us in the way He did, a life song for our friends would have never happened because we would have sold at the wrong time. So he's got perfect timing. But we have to listen.
Laura Dugger: That's right. It makes me think of the threefold cord. That is not easy to tear apart when you have the married couple and God involved in this. So I think this is a story that illustrates a healthy marriage. I'm just curious, how did the two of you work together and how would you advise couples to do the same?
Gary Ringger: Oh, from my perspective, one was that rule we had. I mean, there were things that we disagreed on. And if I wanted to buy red socks instead of black socks, I could do that. But anything major we wouldn't do without being at peace with it. I also think just as the civil... like we've always said, the prayer, even have... a lot of couples do this: they pray together. And I think that's great. But ours was more of... I think we stimulated each other to pray more and have more of a quiet time together than we would have on our own. And I think that was something that it worked.
Marla Ringger: [00:27:59] I also think that there were... Like, just for instance, when he wanted to sell the business and I didn't have peace, it wasn't even something I prayed about right then. I just knew that I didn't feel peace about that. And then when the time came to sell the business to the right company, I knew... I mean, of course, we committed that to prayer, but I just knew intuitively that that's what we were supposed to do.
And I feel like even on big decisions, you know, God directs our steps. So sometimes we just are walking through life and He is directing the way we're going. And it doesn't always have to be a specific prayer request. But He just opens doors, He shuts doors. I just think we just kind of walk and do. And if we are committing our lives to Him, He is directing the way we're going. And sometimes it's actually as simple as that.
Gary Ringger: It's been quite an adventure. And I think early on I had this view, once I got going The Ringger Feeds, I thought that'd be where I retire. But we have really learned. I tell people to hold your life with an open hand and just really be open to where God is leading, and it will be... who knows what may turn up? I wasn't expecting to do what I'm doing, that's for sure.
Marla Ringger: I never expected this.
Laura Dugger: [00:29:23] Well, let's pick up with that part of the story then. You didn't sell to that first company. What happened next?
Gary Ringger: So we did sell to this company-
Marla Ringger: To the next company.
Gary Ringger: To the next company. And then all of a sudden we had this money that was more than we'd ever had that we had committed to give for ministry. I talked to a friend and mentor of mine, and I said, "What?" His name is Clay. I said, "Clay, what do we do with this money?" And he said, "Be focused and involved. Don't just write checks. Be focused and involved." Also, he said, "And dream big. That way if it happens big, then you know it's God and not you."
So I like that. And we're used to this daily prayer. So we start asking God, what did He want us to focus on. One of our data points was a memory that had happened years ago that I'll let Marla explain.
Marla Ringger: A young couple in church, probably 20 years ago, was adopting a little boy from Korea, Daryn and Maria. And she had had cancer before she was married and so wasn't able to have children biologically. We were just chatting in the back hall and she was telling me how much it was going to cost for them to bring this little boy home.
And I went home that day and I just said, "Gary, no young couple should have to go into debt to have a child, to adopt a child especially." She had told me how much it was going to be. We committed to helping them with that cost that time. And it was just so cool because we had a vested interest in this little boy that came home from Korea.
[00:31:08] So we would notice him in church and it was just a real blessing in our life being able to help them. And it just sort of evolved into why don't we help other adoptive families with financial assistance who are trying to adopt?
Gary Ringger: And from a business guy's perspective, it made sense to me. But it's costly to adopt. But then you're in the God's plan family and there's no ongoing cost. The family pays for that. So it was that and several other things that led us into starting helping folks adopt. And it's been a great journey.
Marla Ringger: And it's interesting because like Gary said earlier, neither of us have adopted, but our children all have taken up that banner.
Gary Ringger: Now we have nine adopted grandkids.
Marla Ringger: Nine adopted grandkids. So yeah.
Laura Dugger: [00:31:57] And so from that point on, how did God expand your initial goal from creating this family foundation to then use Lifesong for Orphans for so much more than you could have ever asked or imagined?
Gary Ringger: It has been quite a journey. But originally, as you said, my goal when we first started doing these adoption grants was strictly our family foundation. And we had a small budget. We were helping what we could. But through that work we got introduced to a lady who was starting a ministry in Ukraine, and ultimately she asked us to go over to Ukraine. We saw the ministry that was happening there. We were excited about it and we came home feeling convicted that we should help with that.
But I knew that if we started helping that it was bigger than our little foundation. Marla and me were both... I'm the business guy. I make money. I don't ask for money. If we did this, we were gonna start asking for help. Marla always handle charity. She didn't know how she felt about it. My dad, who's always been a great mentor, he said, "You know, you don't have to twist people's arms. Just ask them to come alongside." And it kind of reached a-
Marla Ringger: He said, "You don't have to twist people's arms. You just have to tell them the story."
Gary Ringger: Tell them the story. And then they can come alongside. And it kind of reached a kind of a turning point was Dad's advice. Plus, it was on a short seven-minute, eight-minute trip from my house to the office where I don't know if you remember Rich Mullins, but he was singing a song help me, Jesus, I'm shaking like a leaf. And that's kind of where I felt.
And I was feeling just kind of overwhelmed by the thought. And I felt, if you will, in repentance, I felt God was saying "you have spiritual pride about your family foundation". This is not your family. It's my family. And you need to let go." So I let go. And what happened was I wanted it to be a family foundation because I wanted my kids involved. They are way more involved than myself.
Marla Ringger: Yeah, they're way more involved.
Gary Ringger: [00:34:17] And Lifesong has become way bigger than what we thought or have helped. Now, roughly 8,000 kids adopted and there's roughly 8,000 kids in orphan care ministries. It's just been way more than what we ever expected. And we've met... It's really expanded our view of the family of God, too. We've met so many Christian believers. And I think-
Marla Ringger: To me, that was a huge blessing because it totally God out of the box I had Him in when I met believers from all over the world. And even just processing applications from adoptive families, reading their stories and the sacrifices they were making to adopt and the types of children with special needs that they were adopting. I mean, it totally made my whole picture of the family of God or God's family global, you know. It really changed my... It just really changed me. It changed both of us.
Gary Ringger: It changed me in the sense... I tell people, you know, I've been broken many times. Apostle Paul said, "I die daily." But I have had two major times where I have had God broke me that we've talked about here today. And I would say it's made me even when I see grandkids and kids go through things, it makes me not get too worried about that because I know we got to go through some hard times for God. For me, I don't let go and really trust Him unless I'm in trouble.
Laura Dugger: [00:35:54] I think we can relate to that. And even with this story, it just goes back to one of your mentor's quotes about dreaming big and that way if it happens you know is God-
Gary Ringger: And we know it was God.
Marla Ringger: We know it was God. We know it was God.
Laura Dugger: Absolutely. Well, is there any last thought or action step that you would like to recommend to each listener today, both for Radical Business and Radical Parenting?
Gary Ringger: Well, I would say from my perspective, what has been life-changing for me is the quiet time in the morning. That has been the key to my change of getting to know Jesus in a much more personal way. That's been life-changing for me.
Marla Ringger: Well, I would say, first of all, support your husband. But second of all, I would say, don't be too hard on yourself as a mom, especially with young children. I was most consistent at being inconsistent. And we laugh about that today. But my kids have appreciated that fact about the way we raised them. So we didn't do everything right.
Laura Dugger: [00:37:01] That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. And if anybody listening today wants to get involved further, whether that's reading your book Radical Business or learning more about Lifesong for Orphans, where do we direct them?
Gary Ringger: Just go to Lifesong for Orphans. Our whole goal is to help other people get involved. So feel free to check that out. As far as the book, you can get that on the Lifesong website. There's also a radicalbusiness.co website as well.
Marla Ringger: And you can also get it on Amazon. And if you email info@lifesong.org, you can ask any question. You can ask for a book, you can ask how to get more involved. But definitely go to our website lifesong.org.
Laura Dugger: [00:37:45] Perfect. We'll link to all of that in our show notes and on our resources page so it makes it easy in case somebody is driving and they can't take notes right now. But our listeners know we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. So as my final question today, what is your savvy source?
Marla Ringger: Well, my favorite Bible verse or one of them, I have several, but one of my favorites is be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. I just think kindness is very much missing in our culture and in our society today. So I have a little plaque that I look at often. It says, "Be kinder than you feel." So I think savvy sauce would be "Be kind."
Laura Dugger: Well done. Be kinder than you feel.
Gary Ringger: I guess I've already said it. My main savvy sauce would be a quiet time with the Lord and then just embrace an adventure. Don't be afraid to take risks, because if you're in that day-to-day relationship with the Lord, then you're safe.
Laura Dugger: [00:38:50] Well. I've said this before, but I found it such a blessing to get to be related to both of you and your amazing family. And this time was just so energizing. And I appreciate your story of faith and obedience, which has certainly stirred my heart today. So thanks for being my guest.
Gary Ringger: And thank you.
Marla Ringger: Aw, thanks, Laura. It's been fun.
Laura Dugger: [00:39:12] One more thing before you go, have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.
This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.
This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.
We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.
If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him.
[00:41:10] At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So are you ready to get started?
First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John.
Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.
We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.
Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.
If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.
