"As a young child I remember watching my father write checks to put in the offering plate," recalls Earl Patrick. "Our family didn't have much money, but we routinely got audited by the IRS because my parents gave more than was typical. Dad instilled in me the importance of tithing."

Faithfully following his father's example, Earl and his wife, Barbara, have tithed throughout their forty-one years of marriage.

"It's amazing to look back over the years and see what systematic giving can accomplish," Earl observes.  "Even on our rather moderate income, we've been able to make a substantial impact.  For example, twenty-eight years ago we began endowing a scholarship fund at Baylor University. Over the years we contributed to the fund as God enabled us.  With consistent giving and the power of compounded interest, it accumulated enough money to help quite a few deserving students."

About seven years ago Earl realized that if he and Barbara didn't structure their estates differently, they were going to owe the Federal government a substantial sum in taxes upon their deaths. They began to implement a number of practical recommendations, one of which was to set up a donor advised fund.  After investigating various alternatives, they opened a Giving Fund with The National Christian Foundation (NCF).

"We've been extremely pleased with the support and services we've received from NCF," testifies Barbara.  "Earl is in the real estate business, and each year we don't know until mid-December how much income we'll have to give away.  We very much want to be good stewards by seeking God's will about where He wants us to give.  But before we opened our Giving Fund, the tax laws put pressure on us to try to distribute all our gifts to charities by December 31.  Now we simply write one check to our Giving Fund and get our tax deduction for the current year. We can take our time thinking and praying about our grant recommendations."

The Patricks typically contribute appreciated stock to their Giving Fund.  This allows them to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the amount of the appreciation, freeing up more money for the Lord's work.  As their resources have grown, so has their passion for Biblical stewardship. 

"God has truly blessed our business," exclaims Earl.  "We're never tempted to pat ourselves on our backs because it's definitely a God thing.  He's graciously given us the means to bless others.  Nothing excites us more than giving."

But Earl and Barbara grew increasingly aware that they were not adequately sharing their vision for biblical stewardship with their three sons, who were then all in their twenties. They decided to have a family meeting to discuss their annual grant recommendations.

"We wanted our sons to catch a glimpse of what Barbara and I were enjoying," Earl explains, "and we wanted them to be able to carry our giving legacy forward after our deaths.  We realized that we needed to be intentional if we wanted to instill our passion for giving in the next generation."

At that first family stewardship meeting in early 2001, Earl did most of the talking.  But he made it clear that he welcomed ideas from everyone else in the family.  "I knew I would never gain their involvement if I didn't relinquish some of the control," says Earl, "so I decided in advance that I was willing to make compromises."

"Earl encourages everybody to give input," adds Barbara. "Our sons know they will be taken seriously. When someone's idea makes sense to the group, Earl loves to say, ‘Take it and run with it!'" 

The Patricks usually hold their annual family stewardship meetings in February or March at Earl and Barbara's home in Waco, Texas.  It's not always easy to get together because the sons now live in different parts of the country. But the family gives the gatherings high priority and makes sure they happen.  Over the past seven years, participation by the younger generation has increased dramatically.  

"In the beginning I was nervous about giving up control," admits Earl.  "But as it turns out, I've never felt as if I've had to go along with decisions that made me uncomfortable.  The kids have challenged us, and they've moved us in different directions.  But my most common reaction has been, ‘Why didn't I think of that!'"

This past year, Earl and Barbara invited their thirty-eighty-year-old eldest son, Brint, to run their meeting. Brint came prepared with information describing numerous innovative giving opportunities and provided excellent leadership.  

"I have two brothers," explains Brint.  "Matt is thirty-five, and Ryan is twenty-seven.  I think our generation approaches stewardship a bit differently from our parent's generation. Mom and Dad seem to be motivated more strongly by the Biblical commands to tithe.  We tend to be motivated more by the Biblical commands to feed the hungry and help the orphans and widows. We like to get personally involved. My heart grows and I am a better advocate if I can experience something first hand."

The younger generation tends to be innovative as well. When the family felt led to help with tsunami relief, the first inclination was to support the efforts of a large Christian organization.  But Brint suggested that they assist a smaller non-profit organization that focused on replacing the boats fishermen had lost in the catastrophe.  

"It was truly a creative approach," says Earl.  "Our contribution helped provide jobs for the workers who built the boats.  The new boats enabled the fishermen to return to their livelihoods, and that in turn provided food for the general population.  Our whole family got excited about this innovative, strategic giving."

"As a result of our family interactions, my perspective on giving has changed," says middle son, Matt.  "I used to be almost exclusively interested in hands-on organizations that work with the poor and marginalized in our own community. Brint's input has encouraged me to think more globally.  I think we all have benefited from the diversity of convictions and insights expressed in our family's meetings." 

Earl used to go into the annual family stewardship meetings with a rather fixed agenda, but in the past three or four years he's tried to be more open to the Holy Spirit. That's resulted in some amazing experiences, such as when the family decided a couple of years ago to fund the Jesus Film Project's outreach to remote people groups.

"Our family agreed on an amount to give," remembers Earl, "and we asked Brint to take the lead on this project.  Brint is very interested in global outreach; from time to time he speaks to churches to encourage them to reach out to remote people groups.  Not infrequently he mentions a specific population in a remote part of Asia who are very much on his heart."

Brint contacted the Jesus Film Project organization and asked if they needed support to reach a remote people group.  They replied that they did.  In fact, they said they had a church that was ready to take the film to a group of people in a remote region of Asia, but they needed funding before it could happen. 

"It turns out," explains Earl, "that one of the churches Brint had spoken to had picked up the challenge.  They had made a commitment to personally carry the Jesus Film to the unreached people group that Brint had mentioned to them. Isn't it amazing that God used our family's contribution to fund their effort, which was the very mission that He had put on Brint's heart!"

"You can imagine the excitement our family experiences when we sense the Holy Spirit guiding us like that," Barbara exclaims.  "It's wonderful to see how the Lord uses the entire family to direct our giving."

"If God were to take Barbara and me home tomorrow," adds Earl, "I'm confident our children would continue to pursue a lifestyle of Biblical stewardship with passion and dedication. We have the systems in place and have met enough times so they have caught the vision.  I hope that our family's experience challenges others to say, ‘If they can do it, we can too!'"

"It's been touching and encouraging watching our children develop a passion for giving," comments Barbara.  "And now one more generation of our family is becoming involved.  Brint and his wife, Terry, are teaching their son, Noah, about the joy of giving."

"The families in our church sponsor approximately 1,120 children in a village in Mozambique," explains Brint, "and Noah personally sponsors one child.  Upon his recommendation, our Giving Fund sends a support check annually to World Vision.  He has a photo of the child, which makes the giving experience very real and exciting to him."