The Ramsey Show - App - The 2022 Annual Giving Show Replay (Part 3)

Episode Date: December 26, 2022

A special replay episode of one of the most popular shows of the year: our Annual Giving Show! Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

You're listening to a special rerun episode of our annual giving show. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods, moving and storage studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. We help people build wealth, do work that they actually love, and create real, amazing relationships.

This day's shows are dedicated to giving, to generosity. It's our annual giving show in honor of Christmas time. Merry Christmas, America. Hey, we're glad you're with us. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality number one, bestselling author is my co-host today. And we're taking your calls all about giving. We want to hear your stories that are inspiring about giving and about receiving. Generosity is the best thing you can do with money. It's the most fun you'll ever have with money. And we teach you around here that you will sacrifice to win.

You will live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else. So check it out. We want to hear your story. Open phones here at 888-825-5225. Jay in Washington, D.C. is with us. Merry Christmas, Jay. How are you? Hey, Merry Christmas, Dave and Rachel.

It's a real pleasure to talk with both of you. You too. Tell us your giving story. Yes, sir. So I'd briefly like to share today my family's progression of our generosity over the past couple of Christmases and what we have planned this year. But first, my why. So my three siblings and I were raised by a single mother who's a real hero to all of us. All four of us are successful adults, and so I have a real heart for helping single moms however I can. Over the years, of course, we were helped by family and friends and strangers in many ways, and so I feel compelled to do the same.

In 2020, my wife and my first Christmas after completing Baby Step 3, we were finally in a position that we could expand our generosity to beyond our church, and we opted to find a deserving stranger to help. So I chose a diner-type restaurant a few days before Christmas, walked in, and asked for the manager. I asked him if he had any single moms working that day who could use a little hand up with a money gift for the holiday. Someone came to his mind right away, and he was able to help me hand an envelope with a little over $200 to a grateful mom, two little ones. Last year, my family and I became a little more strategic than that.

I called a different restaurant about a month before Christmas and asked for the manager, and if she had any single months of good benefit from a monetary gift there. She immediately thought of one mom who had recently successfully completed rehab. The manager and I schemed for a weekend shift for when this particular waitress was working, and my wife and my kids and I visited that restaurant for a drink and a slice of pie that afternoon. And we wanted to be anonymous, but evidently every employee in the place knew, besides the waitress, that we were about to give the gift.

They were all smiling and watching us the whole time. And about 15 minutes into our visit, we left the waitress a $400 tip and walked out. So this year, Dave and Rachel, I'm a public school administrator, and I get daily reminders of how blessed my family and I are through the course of serving my school community. And unfortunately, this year I learned recently that two siblings who attend my school lost their father to an accident. And our school team reached out to this newly widowed mom to see how we could support. And she shared that, among other things, she was struggling with finances because her husband handled all the financial matters. I immediately thought that my family and I could personally gift them a subscription to Ramsey Plus that she would really benefit from the financial coaching aspect of that. So I called your company

and Rick, one of your longtime agents, shout out to Rick, answered. I explained the situation on behalf of the company. He generously gifted the year of Ramsey Plus to me to give to the widow. I'm really grateful for your company for stepping in to help. And, of course, my family and I have been talking about how we will outrageously give this year, and it will go to our widow and our school community. We have to help our single moms, especially those who are widowed. All these ladies are superheroes. Absolutely.

Yeah, they are. They do wear a cape, every one of them. And most of them work multiple jobs just to get by. And it's a very real thing. So you've touched a nerve. You really have. That's fabulous. Well done, Jay.

Thank you. I love that, Jay. Thank you. Thank you so much for the inspiration and we will continue amen keep it up brother merry christmas to you very cool what an amazing heart jay you have you and your sweet family i'm like that's and i love the intentionality of calling the restaurant talking to them right like you kind of build it up and then his kids jay's kids, you know, going along on that as well.

Like there's just life-changing things playing out all around. Well, if you can more carefully identify the target, you're more likely to hit the target. Yes. Random things. You kind of get, sometimes when you're doing this kind of weird generosity stuff, you get a little nervous and you start kind of thrashing around and get a little bit random. And sometimes you miss the target you know it's not your giving doesn't do what it what you kind of hoped it would do uh but in his case he's being very selective and helping someone go okay that's that that's a that's a person uh that okay now i've got that dialed in that's that's very cool and you know what i'll brag on rick guy here, because I know he's talking about over in our Ramsey Concierge team.

And all of you folks out there that own and run businesses, that's a leadership lesson right there. You know, the way our team is led, they are one of the, you know, we teach them to have a self-employed mentality. Treat this place like they own it. Treat the books that you sell like you own them. Treat the, you know, the stuff around here like, you know, like you own it. And Rick treated that like he owned it. He said that's somebody that this is something that if I own this company, I would give that. And so he gave that and oh by the way if you're running the company your leadership style needs to equip and empower your people to do that to be generous to

be generous without asking they don't need to check in just do the right thing and you know he didn't give away ten thousand dollars he gave away one one year membership to financial peace university we'll be okay you know it's okay and so it's he's equipped he's empowered to do that all through people all through this place or a matter of fact they're more than that they're it's like we demand that they do it it's part of their job to be generous and to take care of people as one-offs now if you call in and just you know and if you call in and make up a lie and try to mess with us, we'll charge you double. Okay? So we do that, too, because we treat it like we own it. We don't want to be conned.

But we do want to be generous. There's a difference, right? I mean, that's the thing. Yeah, no, totally, totally. Absolutely. Way to go, Rick. That's very, very cool stuff. That's how it's supposed to be done.

My point of that is, is if those of you that run small businesses out there and lots of you do, your entree leaders, entree leaders meaning entrepreneurs and leaders, you can magnify your generosity just by empowering your team to do it. And because they have more touch points sometimes than you do. So it gives you a lot of ways to do it. This is an annual giving show here on the Ramsey show. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. As we do our annual giving show, we are taking calls from those of you telling your giving stories. We're less than two weeks away from Christmas. The Ramsey Christmas Cash Giveaway ends tonight at midnight. And by the time we're done, we will have given away thousands of dollars.

Why do we do that here at Ramsey? Because one of the things I've learned is that outrageous generosity changes me. Logically, you'd think that being unselfish makes you a generous person, but the opposite is true. Being a generous person changes your heart, and then you become less selfish. And that affects every area of your life. Unselfish people are better husbands, better wives, better friends, better parents, better employers, better employees. People just want to be around you more. So when you're fired up because you're working the baby steps, it's changing your life. It is time to start giving, start developing that habit. And while you're over there signing up for the free

money, get the $10 sale on the total money makeover books, the baby steps, millionaire books, all of Rachel's books. You've got hope. Don't keep it to yourself. Spread it around. Go to RamseySolutions.com. We've got the best deals running right now, so it's easy for you to find outrageously generous gifts for the season. Check them out.

RamseySolutions.com. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Harmony is in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Merry Christmas, Harmony. Merry Christmas. I am thrilled to talk to you. It is such an honor to participate in the giving show. Well, thank you.

Tell us your story. Okay, so my giving story started a few years back. I got a really nice bonus at work and I love my job and I know I'm good at it, but I also know I am nothing without my team. So I wanted to share. And it was kind of a little conundrum because I wasn't really supposed to advertise that I'd gotten a bonus. I don't think there were a whole lot of them given out that year. And I couldn't just give them money because I don't think that would have been appropriate. So I did my Secret Santa idea. I just made up some envelopes with cash in them and the person's name and said from Secret Santa, thank you for all you do. And I snuck around and I flipped them under the office doors. And it was just so much fun that I decided right then and there that I would just go ahead and add

a line item to my budget so I could have a secret Santa fund and do it again. So I did it again next year and then I also noticed how great our janitors are where I work and of course everything we do would come to a screeching halt if they didn't do their jobs. And they're just always so friendly and cheerful. And they say hi to everybody. And they knock on every door of every office every day and empty the trash and all the other things that janitors do. So I decided they would be a part of it too. And then the most amazing thing that happened was that it went viral. One of the janitors sent an email to the all employees distribution list that said, thank you, Secret Santa, whoever you are. And people started asking her, what was she talking about?

So she took a picture of the envelope and sent that out. And then, yeah. So this is like the entire staff gets these emails. And how many is that? How many, how many, how many people are getting this? About, about 500. Okay. Okay. That's amazing. So after about a day or so, someone replied to the email chain saying, I got one of those too. And then another one, me too, and these weren't the ones that I had given. And Secret Santa stuff started magically appearing all over the facility. Oh, my gosh, Harmony. Sounds like Santa got in on it.

I can't believe it. It was so fun, and I can't wait to see what happens this year because we're not quite, we work right up until the day before Christmas Eve, so it's going to probably be next week when things really, I'm expecting to see it again this year. Wow. And, you know, it's right what you said. This is like therapy for me.

I get so much more out of this than I would from any stuff or even any experiences that I could buy with the same money. Well, the fabulous thing is you inspired somebody else to start doing it too and didn't even know it. I think it was her email that really got the word out. I was tight-lipped. No one knew unless some of the recipients that I gave had said something to somebody else. But then when this email went out, that was really what got it going, I think.

That's so perfect. That's awesome. Well done. Well done. Great story. So the original Secret Santa, if there is one,'s a guy named larry stewart from kansas city and um we ended up connecting with him having him on the show several times developed a friendship with him he's passed away of cancer since but larry was a quite an interesting bird he um was down on his luck decades ago uh didn't have any money was Was hungry. Pulled his pickup into a diner in Mississippi, a little meat and three diner.

Went in, went up to the counter and sat down and ate. And with the idea that when he finished, he was just going to act like he forgot his wallet and just try to talk because he had to have food. He was hungry. And he started talking to the cook behind the counter who turned out to be the owner of the diner we found out later in the story um and the guy realized that he was broke and kind of was running a scam and uh he walked around behind him and reached down on the floor and said uh hey i think you dropped this and handed him a 20 bill

so he was able to pay he gave him the money bill. So he was able to pay, he gave him the money. In other words, he was able to pay for his dinner. Larry never forgot that. He later goes on to be, got in the cable TV business and goes on to become a multimillionaire and started a tradition of Secret Santa and nobody knew who he was. And he would go to areas of the country

where something had happened. He was in New Orleans after Katrina. He was in um after a shooting and around columbine he was there after that he was in new york city after 9-1-1 and he would walk around in a santa claus suit with his friends who were policemen uh would go with him and he would give away tens of thousands of dollars he'd walk up just hand people hundred dollar bills two hundred dollar bills three hundred dollar bills four hundred and he would walk around all day long just'd walk up and just hand people $100 bills, $200 bills, $300 bills, $400 bills, and he would walk around all day long just on the street and just randomly going up to people and just going, ho, ho, ho, and who are you?

And he'd get, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, and he handed out, over his life, he handed out millions of dollars as Secret Santa. And so when he got sick, he created the Secret Santa kit to franchise it so that other people could do it and you could go to his i don't even know if the website's still up he died several years ago but the website was like secret santa.com or something and you could go there and get you know learn how to be him because finally the kids no one knew who it was it was a big mystery all the media was trying to track him down trying to figure out what it was and he kept it a secret for many years kansas city star finally in his own hometown tracked him down figured out who it was it was a big mystery all the media was trying to track him down trying to figure out what it was and he kept it a secret for many years kansas city star finally in his own hometown tracked him down figured out who it was and so he came out when he got sick he came out and told

everybody who he was and started telling his whole story and we had him on the air and uh he was just a piece of work he was a lot of fun but he would dress up as santa claus and go into the areas of town where people were struggling uh or go to towns where something had happened and they just needed encouragement. And it wasn't like $5. I mean, he's giving away hundreds of dollars and $100 bills and tens of thousands of dollars on a given trip in a given day. It was very cool. He was a great Secret Santa, like Harmony.

Harmony is a great Secret Santa. I know. Well done, Harmony. like harmony harmony is a great secret santa i know well done harmony and you know the weird thing is is that just like uh larry stewart's legacy lives on and people are now doing secret santas all over in his memory now harmony wasn't tracking on him i'm sure she just had her own idea there but but if you're tracking that whole idea they don't know who he is you never know what you inspire how many of those uh gen 2 gen 3 generation 3 secret santas are popping up all over uh inspired by you and what you and i would say i have enough hope and humanity

that you know if someone is given a gift like that that somewhere in their life they will give as well right like it's like when you are given to, you can't help but then to pass that on, right? It may look different than the original gift given to you. But that's where the generosity kind of butterfly effect can happen. And it may not happen every single time. But I have enough faith in humanity that I'm like, I think it does like when something is given to you in a act of generosity, your life is shifted and it changes and then you in turn want to be able to give too. So I love the passing on. It's inspiring this thing called generosity. This is The Ramsey Show. Teksting av Nicolai Winther Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author.

My daughter is my co-host today. This is our annual giving show here on the Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author. My daughter is my co-host today. This is our annual giving show here on the Ramsey Show. We like to inspire generosity, and particularly here at Christmastime. Merry Christmas to you, America. We want you to be givers. We want you to enjoy money, and the greatest joy you'll ever get with it is the joy of generosity. One of the ways we also celebrate this day of giving on the show is we get some of the folks that work at Ramsey, one of the 1,100 team members, to come in and tell their giving

or receiving story. And Sarah is with us on the debt-free stage to tell her story. Hey, Sarah, tell us your giving story. All right. So about a year ago, and just in the past few years, my grandmother has been such an incredible blessing to my family and myself. Towards the end of last year in August, my grandfather unfortunately passed away due to COVID.

But around the same time, my grandmother had made the decision to sell her home and move in with my parents. So while this was all happening, I was still living at home. And as a family, we were like, you know what, we're going to go through FPU. So we did. And every single video that we watched, because it was a remote class, my grandmother was just sitting on the couch quietly, just listening and absorbing all the information. And I really believe that something just changed in her heart that kind of 10x her generosity and she was already an incredibly generous person. I mean she'd be the first one to pay for your food every time I went out she'd be like oh and can I slip a few dollars your way for coffee?

Just the sweetest little person a you know religious giver and she also didn't just give her time but she or give her, but she also gave her time. And part of the ways that she did that was every single week, for as long as I can remember, she would spend a ton of time making just a ton of food for her local church youth group.

And every single year, she also hosts our Thanksgiving family. So our Thanksgiving feast. So she would spend days on end cooking. She would invite her family and not just her family, but the entire church congregation. Oh my God. So it was a whole feast and she'd spent days preparing this and she was older in age. So she had a weaker heart and she couldn't even like just cook it all at once. She literally had to break it apart that far just to do this. Wow. So it was just an incredible, just inspiring woman

that she did all of this. And through this time, towards the beginning of this year, unfortunately, her health did start declining, but she wanted to make sure that her daughter's family, my mom, was well taken care of. So as she was learning all these principles and your teaching, she had made the decision to pay off her vehicle. And a few days later, she had told my mom, you know what? I want you to put this in your name because she knew that it would be her vehicle when she passed. And she didn't want my mom to have that burden of a car payment. And that just helped so much.

And on top of that, my grandmother was my biggest cheerleader and my biggest prayer warrior. As I had made the decision to move from South Florida to Tennessee to pursue my dream job here at Ramsey Solutions. Oh, fun. Yeah, she would pray with me before and after every single interview. On top of that, she also helped fund one of my grad school tuition semesters, and that just helped incredibly as someone who was on Baby Step 3. And a few months after that, she actually gave me $5,000 towards purchasing my first car. As I moved up here, I needed a reliable vehicle to get around. And I actually moved up here without the job using the proximity principle to get the job. And I couldn't

have done this like on my own, but with her support, I was able to get my day of car. I got my dream job here. And just last weekend, I walked for my graduation for my master's degree, all debt-free at 21. Oh my gosh. So I'm super grateful for the impact that she's had me on that way, in that way, but it gets even better than that. And as she was continuing through financial peace towards the end, you know, we have that generosity video and she actually asked my mom one day if she would drive her to the bank. Now, my mom had no idea what this,

like why she wanted to go to the bank. She thought, oh, maybe she wants to open an account. But on the drive over, she actually revealed that she wanted to pay off my parents' house. Whoa. In full, completely, like $200,000. It was insane. And there was nothing stopping her from doing this. Wow. So she went ahead and she paid off my parents' house. And without that mortgage payment, such a huge weight was just

lifted off my parents' shoulders. And my family and I are just so incredibly grateful for the blessing of that from her and just her lasting legacy of generosity. And as I've moved up here now, there was a weekend since I knew that her health was kind of declining that I had decided to go back and visit her in South Florida. And I flew in really early, I think like 6 a.m. that day. And I got to the home and I was sitting at her bedside holding her hand. My mother was on the other side also holding her hand, and I got the privilege to spend the last 20 minutes of her life by her side. And just the lasting impact of generosity, I hope that I can carry that on. Wow.

And this place helps me do exactly that. So I really am so grateful to be a part of this crusade. Wow. You're incredible. What a great story. Oh, that's amazing. I love your granny of this crusade. Wow. You're incredible. What a great story. Oh, that's amazing. I love your granny. She's awesome.

Yes, she's incredible. Man, she's incredible. How old was she when she passed? She was 76. 76. Okay. Yeah. How incredible.

How many grandkids does she have? Is it you and? It's actually just three. Three. Okay. Okay. Yes. But I was thinking like, that's what i love about

within a family unit right how it that that trickle effect is so real and as you're standing here you're like oh yeah your your life is completely different uh not just from the monetary gifts that she's given you but it's the spirit right that generosity yeah who she is absolutely beautiful my mom was like i hope that i can do that for you guys one day too and i'm just like as much as we can do we're trying to be generous and like not just the big ways but the small ways as well that's right that's pretty cool very cool very very well done good stuff good stuff all right sarah tell everybody what you do here and how long you've been on the team i am an email marketer with every dollar and i've

been here about eight months and you said you're 21 yes and you just got your master's in what in strategic communications and leadership wow very cool awesome well you're a great team member and that was a wonderful generosity story very very well done mother i love it thanks for sharing it sarah thank you for having me. Good stuff. Generous people make us smile. Generous people make our eyes leak. I was crying on that one. That one got me.

That was good. Right there? That was powerful. Yeah. Papa Dave. Wiping my tears away. Yeah, that was good. So sweet.

Good stuff. Well, the granny kicking, the grandmother kicking in and just going boom i'm gonna do this and boom i'm gonna do that boom i'm gonna do that and the other thing that just occurs you know as i'm sitting there we've got so many millennials and gen xers on this team and they get such a bad rap of as uh uh you know uh stereotypically being snowflakes being not having hustle not having grind not having that and uh like so many stereotypes that are just inaccurate um there's certainly a segment of gen z and certainly a segment of millennial that's awful and a segment of the boomers and a segment of every other generation there's no question and but i gotta tell you we

work up close and personal with a bunch of Gen Zs that are like her. That lady right there is brilliant. 21. Great. She's articulate. Just finishes her master's degree and is a proud member of this crusade and so on. So they're out there. They're out there.

And when you get to meet people like Sarah, you know that we're going to be okay. That Gen Z is, you know, there's enough of her, enough of those like her in Gen Z. That's right. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Good stuff.

Hey, this is our giving theme hour. Thank you for our theme show today. Thank you for being with us on this. It's absolutely incredible to share these stories. If you've got a great giving story, jump in, and we'll try to get you on. The phone number is 888-825-5225. How our lives have changed. Trudy is in the Baby Steps Community Facebook group.

How our lives have changed since finding the Ramsey Financial Peace University at our church six years ago before FPU. It would be weeks before Christmas. We'd be scrambling to find money to pay for gifts, make payments on credit cards. Today, my husband called to tell me it's Giving Tuesday, and we still have a sizable amount of money in our charity account. I stopped decorating the house and started a poll in our town for people's favorite charities. This is the most fun you can have with money. Before dinner tonight, we are delivering checks.

There you go. That's great. Good stuff. That's the way it's done. Intentional giving. Intentional generosity. This is The Ramsey Show. go. Our scripture of the day, 2 Corinthians 9, 6-7. The point is this this whoever sows

sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully each one must give as he has decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion for god loves a cheerful giver. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, you cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, you know, he might have a future in that writing stuff, that Ralph Waldo Emerson guy.

You never know. This is a giving show for The Ramsey Show. We do it once a year we should do it more but we're here celebrating the power of generosity grace is in tyler texas merry christmas grace tell us your giving story merry christmas you guys it's an honor to come on air today to share my story well my my story was back in 2020 during the height of all of the COVID shutdowns in the world spinning, it felt like. My husband and I were both fortunate enough to keep working and keep our jobs and actually have overtime opportunity as well.

And so we were doing really good financially during that time when we know a lot of people weren't. So when those rounds of stimulus checks started coming in from the government, my husband and I both agreed that we wanted to use those checks to bless somebody who was struggling during that time. You know, we were praying about it, like, Lord, lead us to how you would have us use this money. And since there were so many needs, we didn't know, you know, which need to meet. There were so many. And the Lord put on my heart to just reach out to a friend of mine who the year prior had moved to Uganda with her family to oversee and operate a children's home there.

It's basically like a foster home for babies, newborn through age five, who either don't have a family or for one reason or another, aren't able to be cared for by their families. And they take care of these babies and love on them and provide for them and care for them until they're either reunited with their family or are placed with some kind of permanent, you know, placement or in some cases, domestic adoption. And when I reached out to my friend, I found out that they had been really hurting because of all of the lockdowns there in Uganda. The lockdowns were extremely strict. It was really difficult for them to be able to leave their facility. They had strong regulations regarding that. And even when they were able to leave their facility. They had strong regulations regarding that. And even when they

were able to leave, it's not like all of the markets were open and bustling. And so they were running quickly out of supplies for their clinic, medications, equipment, as well as clothes for those growing babies, since babies grow like weeds. And they needed clothes in the next sizes up and were not able to get them. So I asked my friend for a list of and they needed clothes in the next sizes up and were not able to get them. So I asked my friend for a list of everything they needed for their clinic in terms of clothes, for the office, everything. And she sent that over to me and my husband and I went to Walmart and completely cleared the list and packed up five very large boxes and express shipped them internationally to Uganda for them.

Whoa, that's fun. Grace, that's amazing. That is great. When they got those boxes, they must have thought Santa had shown up for sure. Yes, it was so sweet. My friend, when the first boxes started to arrive, she opened it and with some of the older babies, you know, the toddler age, sent me a picture with some of those babies holding some of the new clothes and items from the boxes. And that

just, it made me cry just from the joy that I was feeling that I got to be, that we got to be a blessing for them. You know, cause we, you know, we were doing fine financially. We didn't need that money and to be able to bless them in that way was just so incredible the most fun i've had shopping ever amen that is the most fun ever oh grace that's amazing well done grace very well done well played ian is with us in milwaukee merry christmas ian merry christmas god i haven't slept because I've been so excited to be on this show. Well, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to have that effect. How can we help?

Tell us about it. Tell us your giving story. So I'm currently 37. When I was 35, I had been a police officer for 13 years, and I'd just recently been promoted to Sergeant. And up until that time, I had never had any inkling of having mental health issues. I extremely healthy. I'd done everything I ever wanted to do with the department. And all of a sudden something just clicked. And clicked and I was completely debilitated by a form of OCD where you think you're going to, or you think you did, um, harm your kids. And my little girls, um, were two and five at the time.

And I love being a girl, dad. Um, and I was at work and I'm constantly around all these bad people. And I'm like, oh my gosh, that's me. I did something. I hurt them when I was changing their diapers. And my doctor's like, no, Ian, you have OCD and you have it so bad. You need to contact Rogers Behavioral Health because they're, I mean, the best in the business. So I called them and they're like, we need to get you in our residential program now. You are, you know, you are one of the most severe cases we've seen. And so I'm like, all right, let's do it. I called my insurance and they said, no, we're not covering it because it's not worded inpatient, even though that's what it was.

And so I'm thinking, my gosh, we have, we were in baby step, we still are four, five, and six. And I said, we can cover this, but what happens if my treatment runs past 12, 16 weeks and the department says, you're not fit for duty, we're going to leave. I mean, I was just so scared because that had been my life and their foundation says, look, we will cover 100% your stay inpatient. Wow. And we will make sure you get treated. Now, whose foundation? The mental health organization's foundation or the department's foundation?

No, the mental health organization. Oh, wow. 100%. Wow. And when I came out and did their partial program and daily therapy, we cash flowed that without touching our emergency fund. And I did the disability process for retirement all by did save my life 100% and my family's life. And, you know, now I get to be a girl dad. I get to talk about this.

I actually just wrote an article. I talk about this at churches and leadership conferences and schools. And, you know, you guys are my inspiration to do that, and that's what I get to do now. Well, very well done. Sounds like you're doing good, are you? I'm doing good, and actually there's a couple of people at your organization, Tristan Dunn and Aisha, they're listening today,

and actually just filled out an application for one of the positions with you guys to give it a shot and maybe share my talents with you guys. Wow. Very cool, Ian. Very cool. That's a powerful story though. And yeah, the generosity, that piece is what a burden that's lifted off when you don't have to pay for something like that i mean that's that's absolutely incredible you know there's there's things that are definable and you can put your finger on mental health things often aren't as easy to define i mean if you need um heart surgery that's a very definable objective thing if you've got uh that form in his case a form of ocd that's a little tougher to uh diagnose and to define that goes oh there's an end to this treatment yeah you know and those

people stepped up and as he said literally saved his life that's pretty incredible very cool and that's the beauty of having around health care mental health or physical care either one having foundations and things that support and move that it's absolutely vital well guys that's a great giving show you folks out there did it again you inspired each other you inspired america by calling in and giving your great stories rachel this whole generosity thing is a big deal well it is and it's a huge piece of of why we do what we do here every day getting people in a place where they can be freed up where their money doesn't control them so that they can truly live and give like no one else and this is that piece that we

get to celebrate today so thank you guys so much for calling in great job austin zach ben james andrew in the booth the booth dudes they make the show happen that puts this hour in the boot in the booth, the booth dudes. They make the show happen. That puts us our in the booth, in the, oh, whatever. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz, co-host on The Ramsey Show. If you want to do your debt-free scream live on the show, visit ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.

We'd love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story. That's ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.