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Tina finds key to financial freedom

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Tina Hoffman is a successful real estate agent who works hard to sell high-end property. When she’s not at work, she loves to spend time relaxing with her girls… but Tina’s life wasn’t always this sweet. It took a turn for the worse just after her divorce.

"You have this picture of what your life is going to be like when you have children and how you’re going to be, and it really just wasn’t working out that way," says Tina.

Tina was a single mother of three and on an income of $1,500 a month. Most of her money went to paying for daycare, and there wasn’t always enough left to pay for food and utilities.

"I just couldn’t make ends meet. I was putting off some bills. At one point, I almost got my home and car repossessed," she remembers.

Tina wanted to provide a better life for her children, and that’s when she earned her real estate license. But her income from commissions wasn’t what she thought it would be.

She thought, "I’m working. I’m doing everything that I know to do, and still... it’s not working. I would have to juggle bills. There was never enough money at the end of the month, and it was a constant struggle to make ends meet."

Tina decided to tithe on her income. Then one Sunday, her pastor challenged people to give beyond the tithe. This principle was reinforced when she tuned in to one of her favorite TV programs.

"When I first became a believer, it was because of CBN. It was because I was one of those people flipping through channels, and it changed my life," says Tina.

So, with the little she had, Tina became a CBN partner, giving $20 a month.

"I always continued with tithing, but really increasing in faith, the offerings. And it was unbelievable how the more I would do that; the more sales would come through. More and more checks would come from no where."

Tina always tithed before paying her bills. She remembers one time when she was short $250 dollars for a utility bill.

"A couple days later I came home, and there was an envelope sitting on my stove. And it said, 'Jesus loves you.' And I opened it up, and it was the money for my utility bills!"

Tina later found out that a friend from church left the money. That built Tina’s faith, and she prayed about increasing her giving to CBN. She also sponsored a water well through Operation Blessing.

"I went ahead in faith and I said, 'Lord, I’m going to drill this water well. And I’m going to send this off,' " she recalls. "And as soon as I sent it off, I had a 1.3 million dollar listing that had not sold -- everybody said it was over priced. As soon as I sent that off, the property sold for full price, and it was a $57,000 commission!"

She continues, "I got the check from the title company, and I kind of hurried out of there. The girl that works at the title company said, 'Oh, I guess you’re running to the bank.' And I said, 'No, I’ve got to go stand outside and praise the Lord.' It’s amazing… I used to work year after year not making that kind of money, and this was one check."

Tina then decided to become a CBN Founder!

"The Word says, 'I’m blessed to be a blessing.' And it’s so true… I’m so grateful. It is better to give than to receive," she now believes.

"If people say, 'I can’t afford to give.' From the bottom of my heart I say, 'You can’t afford not to give.' It doesn’t make sense. In our logical mind there’s just no way to explain it. His ways are higher than our ways, and I challenge anybody that’s listening, put Him to the test and see. He will pour out a blessing that cannot be contained."