Monday, January 31, 2011

Project 31 Day 10: Challenges and Growth

 Spare no expense to save money on this one. 
--Samuel Goldwyn

Ok, so I'm going to be a day behind from here on out . . . but that's ok, right? Busy-ness can just eat you up.

Day 10.  What is Jesus teaching you as a wife, mom, or friend? (Or just woman in general?)

My gender pretty much has nothing to do with it. 
Pretty much. ;] 

From the time I was in preschool, I have always been concerned about money. I'd count my piggy bank diligently, ask Daddy how much his pay check made, and then promised if I won the lottery, I'd pay off the house mortgage and buy him his dream pick up truck. I haven't stopped counting every penny in the bank, but I've never bought a lottery ticket. Maybe I should try that sometime . . .

Now, Chris takes care of the bills, but I'm the one that tracks our dollars: where do they go? how much are we making? how much are we spending? How much are we saving? Will we survive the summer when school's out and I'm not getting paid? How much are we tithing? How much should we be tithing? Are we eating out too much? Should I get a second job? Blah blah blah the list goes on. 
Money keeps me awake at night, and my dollar-bill ramblings give Chris a headache. He finally just puts his finger to my lips and says, "Honey, I love you, but be quiet. God will take care of us, all right? We're doing well, we're okay, and God is in control. So stop worrying. For the sake of all that is good in the world, STOP WORRYING."

Don't you love it when God uses another human being to speak his truth? 

So long as I have clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and food in my stomach, I'm okay. God promised to take care of the sparrows, so I know He'll take care of us, even if the economy is scary, the job hunt is terrifying, and the bank account shrinks. God is in control, and He will make it all okay--it may not be fun, it may not be pleasant, but somewhere, somehow, we will make it through. 

Sometimes, God does little things just to smack me upside the head and remind me He's really in control. Last week, one of our cats started vomiting  nonstop. We took her to the vet--which is NOT cheap. She seemed just fine after her visit Friday, but Sunday night she started vomiting again. So we call the vet--they want to run x-rays, blood work, the whole kit and kaboodle. It's not cheap. It's not an arm and a leg yet, but, golly it is the farthest thing from cheap. And I don't feel like I can put her down yet--not without just cause like cancer or something. Even putting your pet down costs though. Lots. Golly. So we agree to trying to find the ailment, and I start to panic that we won't have enough money. I check our account, and there is MORE than enough to cover this. Chris's boss recently gave him a raise, and the last two paychecks were higher than expected. We can at least, now, pay to find out what's wrong with the cat and then, hopefully, afford to fix it. Maybe.

Honestly, if someone at the humane society would have told me that in ONE YEAR this cat would have costs me the hundreds and hundreds of dollars, I would have sadly turned away from that cute little kitten and moved on, but no, no one warned me of her flea issues, tape worms, feline respiratory infection, and now the puke machine . . . So I brought her home, fell in love . . . and now God is taking care of it. Taking care of my worries.
They really shouldn't exist--my worries.
I think I keep them around because it gives my brain something to do at all times. You know, keeps life interesting and in a moderate panic.
Energizing, ya know? ;]

1 comment:

  1. husbands are good at telling us not to worry. My husband has to tell me the same thing.

    So glad that God takes control so we don't have to!

    ReplyDelete

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