No Wanting

I feel really blessed during this pandemic because my husband has still been able to work. I know this is not the case for a lot of people. If it had happened a few years ago, when I was working in a restaurant and he was in any of his last three jobs, we would have been hurting for sure. My heart really goes out to those who are struggling, and I hope you are getting help during these tough times. Hopefully, now that things are opening up more, people will be able to catch up. I imagine that for a lot of people its going to take a while. 

I recently had a few encouraging moments financially this past month, and I wanted to pass them on to anyone who may be struggling with faith where finances are concerned. 

We are currently in step three of the Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom program. Our current goal is to save up 6 months of income. No easy task. When we got our kicker check, we put it right into savings. It would make a nice start to our goal. 

But then summer hit, and with that camping season. We LOVE to camp. As I was going through our supplies, I realized that we could use a few new things. Our family had outgrown our current cooler, and the kids needed bigger sleeping bags that were better suited for the cold than the ones they had. My husband also needed a new chair and I could really use a camp table, because our card table just wasn't cutting it.

As I added up the cost for all of these things, I felt a little guilty that I would be taking that money from our savings. But I felt like we needed them and was blessed that each one of them were on sale at the time. Oh, and while I was shopping I found that they had strawberries on sale and bought fifty pounds of them and canned most of them into strawberry jam.

A few days later, a gift card randomly arrived in the mail from a family member (I had told her nothing about my purchases). The amount covered the cost of the camping supplies and the strawberries and all the groceries for that week. So, above and beyond what I needed.

 A few weeks later, we had to go out of town for my son's surgery, and had to be in the city where the surgery was taking place two days before the surgery day so my son could be tested for coronavirus. Before I knew that my husband could come on the trip, I had planned to camp in the van in my brother's driveway. But my husband did some research and found a hotel that was offering discounts to patient's families, so he made reservations. I was squirming a bit at the extra cost, but trusted that he had made the right decision. 

When I travel with just the kids and I, we are picnicking for most meals. It just saves so much money. My hubby, however, loves to eat out and try new places, so we also ended up eating out more than I had anticipated during the trip. More internal squirming on my part, but I just prayed that God would supply all our needs and felt peace about it. And He did. When we got home from the trip, there was a check waiting for us. Our church had taken up a special offering to help us with the extra traveling expenses. God is so good!

We have lots of stories about how God has carried us through lean times. I know the mounting bills and bleak predictions may look discouraging, mamas, but God is always faithful to take care of His children. He has you, mama. Let Him bring peace into your hearts over your financial situation.

Lots of love,

Lee