MONEY STILL DOESN'T GROW ON TREES! At least, not as far as I know. If it did, mine would probably be a Charlie Brown version! Since most of us are not by any means overly-wealthy, the trick is to live a little beneath our means, stretch the dollars the best we can, bargain shop, and avoid unnecessary debt. I remember a particularly tough time for us financially. People were calling, asking us for payments we couldn't come up with. They would call again the very next day, and I would wonder how they thought I could magically make it appear. It was as if they believed I had a money tree in the yard and all I had to do was go out, pick some money, and send it to them. We had unintentionally become over-committed and under-compensated. The people calling for money didn't care about our intentions!
We have always given a 10th of our income to the Lord's work in our local church. Then we decide where the rest of the money will go. I remember at the beginning of the housing slump in the mid-1990's, we were trying to build houses as a means of supporting our family. While my husband and his partners did most of the construction, I kept my girls and did odd jobs that allowed me to bring them along with me, like cleaning the church and having a small paper route. I remember the fruit stand man giving me a whole flat of strawberries for free more than once because they were half moldy, and was just going to throw them away. I would cut the mold off and smash what was left for strawberry shortcake. That was before I knew (he didn't either, I'm sure) that strawberry mold has cancer-causing toxins that send out little microscopic roots up to an inch long into the rest of the strawberry, and that would have been well into the half I'd saved. We did without cell phones and computers for years. We had an old truck given to us by a teenager as a loaner until we could find something else. We added a seat belt ourselves so all four of us could be buckled in at once. I could go on a long time about our struggles, but what I am really excited to tell about are the little ways God showed us He was still there.
Like the time I locked the keys in the house with two small children in tow. The van started without a key.
Like when my friend called out of the blue and offered me some sheets--of all things. Just when company was coming and I
wouldn't have time to do laundry since they would arrive after we left very early in the morning. I still had enough clean sheets
left to replace theirs when we returned close to midnight.
Like when I tried to lock my keys in the house again, and the door wouldn't shut, even when I tried a second time. Then I realized
my keys were still inside on the counter.
Like when I locked my keys in the house and the back door was unlocked thanks to aforementioned company.
(I know you're seeing a pattern, here. Me too. Do you think I may have been a little stressed?!)
Like the time I looked all over for my husband's rings, prayed, and went right back to where I'd just looked, and there they were.
Like when my truck broke down 50 miles from home and one of my best friends, also from 50 miles away, "happened" by
just then.
Um, I locked the baby in the house accidentally when the other two outside screamed, "SNAKE!!!" It turned out to be a
salamander poking its head above the rocks. A neighbor "happened" to be home and I was able to call my husband. Baby was
sleeping peacefully when we finally got back into the house.
I have recorded so many things in my prayer journal over the years that God has done to show me He is present and active in my everyday life. At the time, all I wanted Him to do was "fix" our financial woes. Apparently, He had a different plan, but He did not abandon us. We were cast down, but not destroyed. I see a tendency of God in Scripture to walk the deep, dark valleys with someone before He exalts them to a position of prominence or kingdom usefulness: Moses in the desert tending sheep for 40 years, Joseph falsely imprisoned for 13 years, Daniel taken captive as a teenager, Paul with his numerous beatings, shipwrecks, and trials. On one of my darker days, I remember telling God that He was stuck with me, and that no other life was worth living, whether He ever blessed me again or not. I don't recall the program I was watching, but I will never forget someone saying, "Don't ever doubt God's love. If you do, just look at the cross." When I was tempted to doubt God, the truth from His Word, the Bible, gave me strength:
We are doing much better these days, even if we aren't tycoons. I became a nurse when my girls reached school age, and my husband manages a sports and fitness club. I still wash out my ziplock bags. My heart has always been to stay home with the girls, and I was able to for 13 wonderful, challenging, but always rewarding years. If you are looking for ways to earn extra money or start your own business, here are some helpful links below:
We have always given a 10th of our income to the Lord's work in our local church. Then we decide where the rest of the money will go. I remember at the beginning of the housing slump in the mid-1990's, we were trying to build houses as a means of supporting our family. While my husband and his partners did most of the construction, I kept my girls and did odd jobs that allowed me to bring them along with me, like cleaning the church and having a small paper route. I remember the fruit stand man giving me a whole flat of strawberries for free more than once because they were half moldy, and was just going to throw them away. I would cut the mold off and smash what was left for strawberry shortcake. That was before I knew (he didn't either, I'm sure) that strawberry mold has cancer-causing toxins that send out little microscopic roots up to an inch long into the rest of the strawberry, and that would have been well into the half I'd saved. We did without cell phones and computers for years. We had an old truck given to us by a teenager as a loaner until we could find something else. We added a seat belt ourselves so all four of us could be buckled in at once. I could go on a long time about our struggles, but what I am really excited to tell about are the little ways God showed us He was still there.
Like the time I locked the keys in the house with two small children in tow. The van started without a key.
Like when my friend called out of the blue and offered me some sheets--of all things. Just when company was coming and I
wouldn't have time to do laundry since they would arrive after we left very early in the morning. I still had enough clean sheets
left to replace theirs when we returned close to midnight.
Like when I tried to lock my keys in the house again, and the door wouldn't shut, even when I tried a second time. Then I realized
my keys were still inside on the counter.
Like when I locked my keys in the house and the back door was unlocked thanks to aforementioned company.
(I know you're seeing a pattern, here. Me too. Do you think I may have been a little stressed?!)
Like the time I looked all over for my husband's rings, prayed, and went right back to where I'd just looked, and there they were.
Like when my truck broke down 50 miles from home and one of my best friends, also from 50 miles away, "happened" by
just then.
Um, I locked the baby in the house accidentally when the other two outside screamed, "SNAKE!!!" It turned out to be a
salamander poking its head above the rocks. A neighbor "happened" to be home and I was able to call my husband. Baby was
sleeping peacefully when we finally got back into the house.
I have recorded so many things in my prayer journal over the years that God has done to show me He is present and active in my everyday life. At the time, all I wanted Him to do was "fix" our financial woes. Apparently, He had a different plan, but He did not abandon us. We were cast down, but not destroyed. I see a tendency of God in Scripture to walk the deep, dark valleys with someone before He exalts them to a position of prominence or kingdom usefulness: Moses in the desert tending sheep for 40 years, Joseph falsely imprisoned for 13 years, Daniel taken captive as a teenager, Paul with his numerous beatings, shipwrecks, and trials. On one of my darker days, I remember telling God that He was stuck with me, and that no other life was worth living, whether He ever blessed me again or not. I don't recall the program I was watching, but I will never forget someone saying, "Don't ever doubt God's love. If you do, just look at the cross." When I was tempted to doubt God, the truth from His Word, the Bible, gave me strength:
- God loves me (John 3:16)
- God knows my situation and struggles(Psalm 139)
- God has the power to help (Luke 2:52)
We are doing much better these days, even if we aren't tycoons. I became a nurse when my girls reached school age, and my husband manages a sports and fitness club. I still wash out my ziplock bags. My heart has always been to stay home with the girls, and I was able to for 13 wonderful, challenging, but always rewarding years. If you are looking for ways to earn extra money or start your own business, here are some helpful links below:
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