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Tough times are easier in Financial Peace

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My husband and I have been working on acheiving Financial Peace for nearly a year.  When we started out- we were close to forclosure.  A week after we started we got a notice that our van was to be repoed.  To say that we were highly motivated to start applying the financial truths we learned just in the first week of Financial Peace University to our lives- is nothing short of an understatement.  Most of our journey has been recorded here over the past few months.  As time passed I had less and less to write about.  We were still working towards Financial Peace, still hitting road bumps, and celebrating successes.  Mona pays me for my entries here, so unless I feel it is something worth getting paid for, I haven’t written.  Last month I didn’t make a single entry.

This month might be a bit different.  I’ve heard it said that in order to part the Red Sea so that the Isrealites could walk across on dry land, God had to dam up the water source 20 miles downstream.  We have tunnel vision- God has all vision.  What we take for suffering could just be seen as growing pains for God.  One such example in my life is the death of my daughter.  I hope to be fortunate enough to go the rest of my life withouth feeling such a seering pain.  Her death created a hole in my broken heart- a hole that can only be filled by the light of Christ and mended from the love of God.  While I never celebrate her death, I am thankful that the suffering I have endured has brought me closer to God- and in the end- closer to my daughter.  When we started Financial Peace, God knew that 20 mies downstream we would be coming against some financial problems.  He offered to us- through Dave Ramsey- to be prepared.  

J was laid off from his job as a government contractor on Friday.  He’s at the home office filling out paperwork, enruring that our medical insurance doesn’t lapse, filing for unemployment, and all other not-so-fun things he’d rather not be doing.  But, over the past several months we’ve not only become more financially stable, but we’ve also become closer to God.  We’re faithfull- which- if you don’ t know is a Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, and self control).  We began titheing (10%) in February.  We’ve always put aside a portion each week, but had never taken the plunge and trusted God to care for us by giving him 10%.  We have- and did yesterday.  As I was writing our weekly check I asked J what to make it for- and he said “the usual”. He’s still got one more paycheck coming- and 10% of that paycheck still belongs to God.  J’s a new Christian, and as a more seasoned Christian I felt shamed that I probably wouldn’t have done the same had it been solely my decision.  But I also felt pride and respect for J that he’s able to remain faithful.  I thanked God for the work he’s been doing in our lives.

We trust that through God’s vision there’s something out there for us.  We trust and hope that God can use our lives as a testimony to our loving and Faithful God to bring those that we love- and those that we may never know closer to His love.  We’ve still got our home. We’ve got a wonderful church family, parents that love us, friends that care about us. We’ve got a funded emergency fund.  We’ve only a small portion left on a loan we took to pay for a medical bill.  I won’t mention the pesky student loans- which will- of course- be deferred for now.  We’ve got our emergency fund, the knowledge to not only sit down and create a cash flow plan, but the motivation and self control to actually live by it. 

One problem we’ve struggled with is using cash.  On the first order of business is to let go of all non-essentials.  The first victim will be the cable.  I went on Friday to cancel our YMCA membership only to find out that they have subsidized programs for this suffering financial difficulties.  We’ve been comped the next month and once our unemployment comes in- we’ll then find out how much- if anything- we’ll be paying.  We’re going to have to start using cash again to make up for the cut we’re going to be taking.  But most importantly- we’ll be turning to prayer.  We’re so thankful that God answered our prayers when we were drowning in debt by leading us to our Church- which is where we learned and participated in Finacial Peace University.

April 6, 2009 | Filed Under Just Whatever 

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