“The way I tell the story about us is that, in spite of ourselves, God just blessed what we did,” Starla Goad says. Throughout her nearly 50 years of marriage to Phil, God’s hand has guided the couple, providing them with opportunities and open doors. And their stewardship of his generosity has shined the light back on him.
Building a generous foundation
In 1973, Phil and Starla met as students at Harding College. She was a freshman, and he was still a high school senior, visiting colleges with friends. “All of a sudden, Harding jumped to the top of my list!” Phil says. It was love at first sight, and they married two years later.
Phil and Starla both grew up in church. Starla’s father was a minister, Phil was a member of the Church of Christ, and both prioritized their faith in choosing to attend a Christian college.
As a young married couple, they maintained a commitment to tithe, but didn’t consistently prioritize their giving during periods of financial strain. “We would hold our check to the end of the month and make sure we had enough. And sometimes we would tear it up, or reduce it, or sometimes just not give at all,” Phil says.
“The Spirit of God convicted us that [our actions] were wrong because the tithe we had made to him and pledged to him, we took away,” Phil says. The couple went to the Lord to ask forgiveness for the lack of faith they’d shown in withholding their firstfruits. Then they made a commitment to give from the start and cut corners on other expenses, when necessary, rather than take from their tithe.
Soon after they made this commitment to each other and to God, he tested the Goads. Still in a time of financial insecurity early in their marriage, they had excitedly earmarked an expected income tax refund for new carpet in their home. Then, one of Phil’s relatives came to them with a need. They chose to give the carpet money to her instead of using the funds for themselves. Calling it a sacrificial gift, they said “yes” to the opportunity God had placed before them, and their action was a sign of their changed hearts.
The Spirit interceded again through a pastor whose message further shifted their perspectives on giving. They attended church together and heard what they call the most important sermon they’ve ever heard about giving. The message was based on Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
They found this description of God’s promises to be true over and over again as they stepped out in faith to give freely and joyfully to needs that arose around them.
Discovering a unique calling
During his senior year of college, Phil discovered his calling. After hearing a Harding alumnus speak to his class about the field of toxicology, Phil became fascinated with this study of the medical effects of chemicals. “It married together the two things that I was really interested in – chemistry and medicine,” Phil says. He pursued toxicology in graduate school and began research on fetal alcohol syndrome.
In 1997, Phil and three friends stepped out in faith and launched CTEH, an environmental consulting firm. The four founders, all toxicologists with no business experience, were believers and strove to keep a kingdom mindset in their new company. And they slowly found success in this niche field. With a mission to help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from threats to their environment, CTEH’s business model was built around responding to incidents, wholly dependent on something out of their control. But God had his hand on them.
On April 22, 2010, everything changed for the Goads. Two days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, leading to the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history, Phil’s company was contacted to bring 10 employees to the site to do safety observations. Within three months, they had 1,600 people working with them in response to the disaster. It was a huge task and responsibility that provided them with on-the-job training in how to prepare for and respond to large events. This launched CTEH to a new level and allowed the company to expand its services to crises around the world.
Giving locally and globally
God had provided a vocational calling, financial success, compassion for those going through hard times, and he’d aligned Phil and Starla’s hearts toward generosity. Then, he showed them where to give.
As a toxicologist, Phil frequently served as an expert witness in state and federal courts. So, when an organization spoke to their church about CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for foster children, he knew it was something he was uniquely suited to help with. He wanted to get involved with something that made a real difference. And the timing was perfect. “We were looking for ways to give back after our last child went to college,” Starla says. It was an easy choice to start the journey of learning about fostering and adoption.
At the same time, they knew a couple in their church who’d adopted children from Ethiopia through Lifesong for Orphans. The couple’s example of faith through adoption inspired the Goads to get involved with the ministry. They visited Africa and helped build schools, and Phil joined the boards of Lifesong for Orphans and Christian Alliance for Orphans, advocating for the least of these locally and globally.
Phil’s career was progressing, and the Goads found themselves in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position as their finances grew. They sought guidance about how to steward their new wealth and attended two Journeys of Generosity, small-group gatherings that explore biblical generosity. They also met with their NCF relationship manager to learn about how to wisely steward their wealth and the ability to give appreciated assets to make kingdom impact. With the blessing that God brought them through CTEH, Phil and Starla decided to make a gift of some of Phil’s interest in the company.
Then, in 2013, CTEH went through a leveraged buyout, selling a portion of the company to the employees. This allowed NCF to sell its interest and receive substantial payments. Phil stayed with the company after the sale, and it continued to thrive. As CTEH’s success continued, so did God’s blessing. Phil had retained some stock in the company and its value increased with the company’s success, allowing the Goads to give more over a longer period than they’d anticipated. “It’s almost like no matter how much we give, it’s still there. It’s like the widow and the flour. We give away, and things are doing so well with the way the funds are managed, it just never goes away,” Phil says.
Finishing well
The Goads’ faithfulness and God’s provision have led to lifelong efforts to honor him by caring for others. “You don’t end up here all of a sudden. You’re doing these small things all along to give and to do what God’s showing you to do at those moments,” Starla says.
Supporting orphans and the foster care ministry is only a portion of their philanthropic interests. Since they’ve made strategic gifts to their Giving Fund and those dollars have grown, they’ve found great joy in making spontaneous gifts as needs arise.
Now, their sights are set on finishing well. What does that look like to them? They’re following Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:19-24, striving to glorify God through their generosity. Starla says, “Our faith is everything. God is everything. No matter if we have riches or don’t have riches, everything is about Christ and serving him and following him.”
