By Gavin Boyle
Ben Napier shared how his family lost everything twice when he was growing up, two experiences that have significantly shaped the man that he is today.
“I talk about this a lot with Erin, and we talk about it a lot with other people, but growing up in my house when I was a little kid my parents lost everything financially…” Napier told Sadie Robertson Huff. “Up to that point, up until them losing everything, my dad was a big farmer and he had, it was this weird bank loan situation that is actually an illegal loan. They can’t do them anymore and anyway, he lost everything and he rebuilt it all and then he lost it all again.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxu6NRltS6U
Related: Ben Napier Prays With Daughters, Encourages Their Faith
Even at the worst of times, however, Napier saw the Lord’s provision, for example; the family was able to keep their car because the bank did not believe it had any value.
“They literally had this old Datsun car because the bank said, ‘That car has no value,’ so they let my dad keep it…” Napier recalled. “One of my earliest memories was riding down the road in this car and the hood flew up and busted the windshield. And my dad’s solution was he jerked the hood off the car and threw it in the ditch and kept going. So this is the kind of car we’re talking about.”
More importantly, Napier learned the lesson of hard work and perseverance no matter what life throws at you. For Napier, the only way to truly go through life without worrying about what tomorrow may bring is to rely on the Lord for his strength.
While the first time Napier’s family lost everything, it was the result of a bad loan, the second time was much more by choice. Earlier this year, Napier shared that his family lost everything when his father decided to give up his booming career to follow a call from the Lord.
“The second time he lost everything was when he became a preacher…” Napier told Country Living. “He felt this higher calling in his life and gave it all up and sold everything… We sold our farm. We had a house and 10 acres and a barn. Sold his truck, sold his trailers, went back to school and got a degree and then got his master’s from Duke University.”
It is amazing how these experiences in Napier’s early life have shaped the man he is today. Rather than basking in his success as an HGTV star for years, Napier continues to work hard and value his family above all else.
Read Next: Ben Napier Calls Spending Time with Daughter Helen ‘Infinitely More Important’ Than Work
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