Before being asked to direct the homebuilding industry’s non-profit Homes for Hope I worked for an organization that I loved, for a boss that I loved and a General Manager that I loved. My job was easy, I would ask homebuilders to buy or continue buying from an organization I knew would do its best. The most enjoyable part of each day was talking about the amazing people that I worked with. Eventually many of those builders came to love those same people that made up the organization I represented. It was awesome!
Serving the homebuilding industry for 20 years came with many great things and a few not so great things, but you take the bad with the good and carry on. One of those great things was Homes for Hope. But to be quite honest, I was a skeptic at first because it seemed as if every time I turned around there was some organization; with a cause, that continued to drain the bottom line. Ugh!
The decision to come on board was difficult. There were many people that were a part of my decision to change from a trade that I knew so well to a trade I know very little about with a hurdle that was painfully obvious. Before deciding I asked my family, then some builder friends, some friends in the church, and then God for guidance. As a result I was able to make the change with lots of confidence and very little know how.
As I started to develop relationships within Hope International there were a few people that began to stand out. One was Matthew Rohrs; an everyday guy whose job it was to somehow maintain or spiritually integrate banking to the poor. Talk about a task, WOW! But as I got to know Matthew I began to pick up on a question that he was asking himself; that brought about a responsibility in my own heart, “am I loving God well?” A second person that influenced my heart was Chris Horst; yet another everyday guy whose job it is to somehow obtain the funding needed to supply loans to what is now over a ½ million people in 16 countries around the world. WOW again! As I got to know Chris I began to pick up on his method of discussing Godliness with his team rather than quota, in essence he was asking the question of himself, “am I loving others well?”
I began to challenge myself with those questions; am I loving God well and am I loving others well. Next, I blended them with the obvious challenge that I felt which was; when people come into contact with Homes for Hope do they love God more as a result? Those three questions have become the guidelines for my decisions. In short they have become my resolution that has changed everything.
Tomorrow morning I get the extreme privilege to be with some pretty great guys at Frisco Bible Church; my home church. We will discuss the timely topic of resolve. I will ask them to explore ways to love God, love others, and lead others to love God more.
My approach will be simple, make a short list people in your sphere of influence. Identify action items that you can work on that will help you to; love God well, love others well, and lead others to love God more.
My hope is that the most amazing part of their day & your day from this day forward will be leading others to loving God more.
Best wishes,
Jack Nulty
