FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE, USA. After a long flight from Manila, Deborah and I landed in Nashville Friday afternoon. Despite jet lag, Saturday morning I got up and drove to Bethel Franklin for our 3rd Saturday of the month Men’s Discipleship (& breakfast). James Starr, former Dave Ramsey VP, was talking about money. And he was on the money!

Rather than blog my thoughts about James’ talk, I am editing and posting his notes about the “Love Drawer” concept.

In the words of James Starr, here’s what we all should do to prepare for death from a financial perspective…

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The Love Drawer is basically a drawer that houses all of the important information your family needs in case something happens to you. Preparing for death is not a fun task, but it’s crucial to do this for your family.

Every household needs a Love Drawer. It doesn’t matter if you’re single with no kids or 76 and have 12 grandkids—you need a Love Drawer. It’s the last gift you will give your family, so make it a good one. If you truly care about your loved ones, you will take the time to create a Love Drawer.

The drawer should be somewhere in your home and contain everything your spouse or family needs to know when you aren’t around—anything that has to do with your financial life should be in that drawer. You must organize it in a way that anyone can find a specific document in 30 seconds. All files should be clearly marked, in order, and easy for a grieving family member to find. There’s no need to go into extreme detail when creating your Love Drawer. Simply include the appropriate documents in an easy-to-understand format, and you’re good to go!

Your Love Drawer should contain 10 things. Although it may seem daunting to gather all of this material, you will be happy you did once the Love Drawer is created.

1. Cover Letter – This is simply a letter stating the purpose of the Love Drawer. Nothing fancy, just a way to introduce your loved ones to the contents of the drawer.

2. Financial Account – Anything that has money in it and your name on it should be listed in the Love Drawer. This includes account names, amount and account numbers.

3. Funeral Instructions – All details and specifications for funeral plans should be listed so the family can fulfill your wishes. If you are married, you need one for you and one for your spouse.

4. Insurance Policies – All insurance information, including health, car, disability, term life, etc., should be combined into one single document for easy reference. List the type of insurance, who the policy is for, contact information and policy numbers.

5. Important Documents – Any legal or other important documents you have should be noted in the file. This includes deeds, birth certificates, Social Security cards and titles.

6. Love Letters – Since the intention behind the Love Drawer is to keep your legacy going after you’ve passed away, it’s a great idea to include letters to your loved ones.

7. Monthly Budget – Add a copy of your written budget, so your spouse or loved ones know how to operate your household once you’re gone. This will help your family keep track of bills and focus on more important things.

8. Passwords – Write down all passwords, combinations, usernames and PIN numbers. This information allows your loved ones access to any documents, money or information that is left when you are gone.

9. Tax Returns – Keeping tax returns in your Love Drawer is like an insurance policy for yourself in the event that you get audited. Hopefully you never have to pull them out, but if you do, at least you are prepared.

10. Will and Estate Plans – All information pertaining to your will and estate, including names of the executor and Power of Attorney should be located in one file.

If you put your mind to it, you can create your Love Drawer in 30 days! It’s tedious to gather all of the documents and paperwork that goes into the drawer, but it’s a necessary task in order to protect you and your family.

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Thanks, James, for the wisdom. Deborah and I are working on all of the above. How about you?

When it comes to work ethic, I was raised in the old-school by a West Texas dad who felt it was his parental duty to teach the next generation the value of minimum wage, back-breaking, manual labor.

The first job he arranged for me was digging ditches. That’s right, my dad secured my brother and I summer jobs as ditch-diggers, installing underground telephone cables ten hours a day in the 100 degree Mississippi heat for $1.65 an hour.

Since I complained so much about the heat, the next summer he got me an indoor job. So I spent that summer inside an UN-airconditioned warehouse loading fifty pound fertilizer bags onto pallets. During our breaks we would go outside to cool off. The inside of that warehouse was hotter than outside.

The aforementioned fond summer memories flashed into my head this morning as I read Proverbs 12:11.

He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.

Here are a couple of quick observations about that verse.

1. Abundance and work are connected. People don’t seem to get the concept of hard work any more. They want instant success, promotion, prosperity, church growth, whatever – without actually working. I watch fresh college grads who don’t understand why the CEO has perks that are not available to them. Aren’t we all created equal? Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. In the real world, there are no participation trophies, the score is kept, and some teams actually lose.

2. Fantasies and work are not connected. It is a simple choice: work or chase fantasies. You can’t do both. How many business people chase get-rich-quick fantasies, while refusing to do the hard work required to succeed? I’ve lost count of kids with athletic “potential” who never make it because they are simply too lazy to succeed. And, I’ve watched too many church-planters chase fantasy strategies that produce nothing but phantom disciples, while refusing to put in the hard work required to make actual disciples.

I am thankful that my dad taught me to love and value hard work.

PS: Lest you think that God’s grace exempts us from hard work, consider what Paul said about both in 1 Corinthians 15:10.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

BONIFACIO GLOBAL CITY, PHILIPPINES. Woke up early this morning. Jet lag makes me feel real spiritual, for a few days anyway. I watched the sunrise. Beautiful sight from my 16th floor apartment. Once the jet lag wears off I won’t see the sunrise anymore. I’m not really a morning person.

While sipping hot Earl Grey tea and reading my Bible in what used to be my son’s bedroom, Deborah walked in, hugged me, pointed to the clock, and said, “It’s 6:18, April 5th. William was born 27 years ago. Remember fighting in Makati Med over who would hold him.”

I remember like it was yesterday. One of our best fights ever.

Twenty-seven years ago. Wow! (Technically it is still the 4th where he is in Nashville, but since he was born here, we are already celebrating.)

I serendipitously ran into one of William’s t-ball coaches yesterday. Hadn’t seen him in years. We chatted briefly about our sons. My mind was flooded with good memories the rest of the day.

Twenty-seven years ago. Really?

Every parent knows that the birth of the first child marks the end of life as we know it. Marriage changed my life, but the birth of our first child ended the life I lived up to that moment, and gave me a new one. A better one. A life filled with adventure. And joy. And a lot of other stuff.

William was born 5 weeks after a revolution, the EDSA Revolution (aka the original People Power revolution) that ousted President Marcos. The third week of February 1986, it seemed that all Americans, except us, were fleeing the Philippines. We stayed because there was no way they would allow a passenger as pregnant as Deborah on a plane. And, we had no money to purchase a ticket anyway.

Those were exciting times to be in Manila. Hard to believe that one of the key players in the revolution, Senator Gringo Honasan, is now a friend who is growing in his walk with the Lord.

Twenty-seven years. Can William really be that old?

Looking back, there is one decision Deborah and I made that we will never regret. There are certainly plenty to regret, but we got the big one right. Here is it: We decided that family would be first. Not ministry. Family. We decided that we would do family and ministry in a way that our kids would know that they are more important to us than ministry. Not sure where we got an idea like that, but I am glad we did.

If you are starting out in ministry and have a young family, I hope you will make the same decision we made twenty-seven years ago. I hope your kids grow up knowing that they are more important than your ministry.

Twenty-seven years ago. Happy birthday, William Stephen Murrell, jr.

Here are a couple of family/ministry blogs from deep in the archives.

The Problem with Preacher’s Kids

Is It Possible to Balance Family and Ministry?

This conversation happened a couple of months ago while visiting relatives in South Georgia. Cousins Ethan and Eli are eight and twelve-years old. They were talking to my sons James and Jonathan who are twenty-four and twenty-two. The idea of working in a candy warehouse was like heaven to the young cousins.

Eli, “James, if you keep working so much you will never find a wife.”

Ethan, “Eli, he’s got money, he’s got chocolate, he owns a candy store. Why would he want a wife? He’s got it made!”

Yep, when my sons go to work, they are like the proverbial kids in a candy store. Literally. Check out this video of the Candy Galaxy experts creating a candy buffet.

ISLAND COVE, PHILIPPINES. Earlier today (written 3 weeks ago in Philippines, posted today from Nash) I had the privilege of speaking to over 400 Filipino Kids Ministry pastors, coordinators, and volunteers at our annual Victory National Kids Ministry Summit. The delegates came to Island Cove from fifty Philippine cities, plus Singapore, Cambodia, and Dubai.

My topic was the “why” of kids ministry. I told some stories, read some Bible verses, and asked four questions. Here are the Bible verses and questions.

Question 1: Are we bringing kids to church or to Jesus? Getting kids to church is a good start, but it is only a start. The goal is to get them to Jesus. Let’s not be like the disciples in Mark 10:13 who completely missed the point: “People were BRINGING LITTLE CHILDREN TO JESUS to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.”

Question 2: Jesus valued kids ministry, do we? Jesus thought it was pretty important that the kids were getting close to him. The disciples saw no value in ministering to kids, so they tried to stop it with a rebuke. “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant…” (Mark 10:14) “Indignant” is a Bible word for “really ticked off.”

Question 3: What are we doing that hinders children from coming to Jesus? After rebuking the disciples, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and DO NOT HINDER THEM, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14) I’m afraid we inadvertently do much that hinders children from coming to Christ.

Question 4: What can we learn from children? Jesus not only allowed children to come to him, he honored them by making them the example for all to follow. “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)

If we seriously ask and answer these four questions, the result will be verse 16. “And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”

Jesus desires to take our children in his arms and bless them. Often the only thing preventing this is our sorry attitude towards kids ministry.