Life Renewed
Pat Combs always dreamed of making it big in professional baseball.
He loved the game, but he also wanted to make sure his family would never struggle financially. He set his goals high, worked hard, and it paid off. He was selected to play for Team USA at the Olympics in the summers of 1987-1998. His team became the first baseball team to win the gold medal, and in 1988, Pat was chosen in the first round of the MLB draft to play for the Philadelphia Phillies.
He had made it.
He was finally a successful professional baseball player, signed for more money than he had ever imagined, and his wife Christina, and three sons, Carson, Conner, and Casey, would be free of the financial struggles he feared. His dreams had come true, but the satisfaction of “having it all” didn’t last.
“The world taught me that fame, fortune, and everything that goes with it would fill my heart,” Pat shared. “It didn’t! It was not until God changed my heart and my mind in the area of money and possessions that I gained true freedom and the desire to honor Him with my life and all that He has provided. The renewal of my mind on stewardship and learning how to let go of what God has provided me turned my life upside down.”
After retiring from baseball in the late 90’s, Pat worked with organizations like The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Teamalytics, and Morgan Stanley. Each of these experiences contributed to his expertise in Financial Advisory, and eventually, he established a firm with his son, Conner, called Combs Capital Partners in 2020.
Over the years, Pat and Conner have grown passionate about giving, and this business has become an outlet to help others do the same.
The father-son team considers it a great privilege to work alongside families, equipping them to maximize their impact through what God has already given them. While the Combs family has been a part of our coalition since the very beginning, Pat and Conner are now going the extra mile. They offer up their time and talents at Combs Capital Partners through free no-obligation calls, where they walk CFC donors through giving strategies that help them do more good with what they have.
“Helping families focus on stewarding current assets well and helping to create a path for future generations to honor God with His resources is our goal,” Pat told us. “When that goal is accomplished, the families we serve are in a much better position to support the work of CFC and in greater ways financially than they could have imagined.”
Click the button below to learn how Pat and Conner can help you do more good.
Growing up in the rock quarry, Jaya always dreamed of having a home.
In her earliest memories, she remembers watching her parents work as slaves from sunup to sundown. They had sold themselves to pay back a family debt. Too young to work, Jaya spent her time gathering little shards of slate to play with like blocks. She built miniature houses and villages with them, making up stories of the people who lived there, all the while wishing it was her life.
By the time she turned five, Jaya wanted to help her parents, so she asked the supervisors for a hammer to crush stones.
The job was a lot harder than collecting slate for play, but she did her best. While her skin burned in the sun, her hands calloused over the hammer, and her feet split open on the rocks each day, Jaya’s mind was busy dreaming of the villages she had once built with the same stone. After a few months of this hard work, she stopped thinking about her imaginary home. Jaya realized she would probably have to live in the quarry for the rest of her life.
Jaya’s hope was finally renewed one day when a group of pastors came to the rock quarry and began talking with her parents.
They offered to take Jaya away to a children’s home where she would be safe. It broke her parent’s hearts, but they agreed to say goodbye so Jaya could have a better life.
Even though she was afraid, Jaya went with the pastors. When they arrived at The Sylom Children’s Home, she was awestruck. It was more amazing than she could have ever imagined a home to be. Boys and girls played board games and tag. They giggled and played with each other like family. They were home, and so was she.
After the children and caretakers welcomed her, Jaya jumped right into life at The Sylom Children’s Home. She started school, made friends, and went to counseling. Now, Jaya is six years old and loves to read, play, and learn about Jesus.
