In Every Thing Give Thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:18 -  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

This is where I have found myself over the past couple days, and having a thankful spirit has been harder than normal. It's mostly surrounding work, nothing extra ordinary just feeling like I can't do anything right. I know that's not true, and that any pity I may feel the enemy loves to perpetuate even further in my own mind. This is not a fun place to be. Which is why when I woke up this morning I made it a point to continually thank the Lord for my blessings, like my job, my new home (another source of recent stress), my Riley:), my friends, my Bible, even the recent trip to the Dentist office which had me diagnosed with TMJ (I clench my teeth at night) got a praise because now that I know why my jaw hurts I can fix it (hey, no cracks about how much I talk;)).

See yesterday I made a couple mistakes on some of my write-ups, and with business being slow right now, it didn't make the boss to happy, which bummed me out because they were really ridiculous mistakes (I like my job and I always strive to do my best so I took it really personally, probably more than necessary). Then I found out that my new land lord decided that she wanted to change her mind on me not paying last months rent, although she is giving me a little more time to pay it since I wasn't prepared for it. This was a major disappointment though, because I had planned on using it to make a big payment towards paying down my credit card, especially since my rent is more expensive now and bigger monthly payments will be a bit more challenging. This was my day yesterday. The only pleasant thing about it was that it ended with me sitting in my usual pew at church for mid week service and prayer, boy did I need it. The message didn't relate to my situation at all, but just being where I could hear from the Lord was all I needed to end my night on a peaceful note.

Thank you Lord for my long exhausting day.

Today was better at work, although I was still mad at myself. I accepted my plight with the rent and I got to take Riley on a walk before the rain came.

Thank you Lord for holding back the rain so I could walk my dog and gain some perspective. It may have been gray outside, but it wasn't snowing like it is on my friends & family back east and it was over 40 degrees.

Shortly after the walk I decided to go to H&R Block and ask them a question about my 1098-T from WSU. I only usually file a 1040EZ, but I wasn't sure what to do with the new Tax form from the school. So the lady explained it to me and I basically had to do a 1040A (well really Tax Slayer did it for me online). I inputted my information when I got home, and the outcome was good...at first, but then it turned GREAT!!! Without talking actual numbers lets just say that after using the education credit I'm getting ALL of my $ back from school and that will help me make an even BIGGER payment on my credit card then I had planned, and pay for my last months rent, AND have maybe a little left over for some paint for my room:)

Thank you Lord for exceeding my expectations and for making me patient, even if I was whining a little. I apologize. It may be the IRS doling it out, but no one can out give God!

If you're facing your own set of trials I hope that you remember to take the time to thank the one that gave them to you, you never know where the blessings will come from. 

ONLY...A Testimony

Psalm 72:18 ~ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

Have you ever read something once and never had it register completely? Have you ever been in need or searching for some comfort and then found it in that exact same reading?

The answer for me to both of these things is yes.

Recently I've had some things come up for me that were unexpected and didn't go along with my plans and in so looking for comfort I found it, where I should have expected it, but didn't for my lack of faith.

I was tired from a long hot day at work, we have no A/C up north so when the heat does come there is little to take respite in, and I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Unable to do so my restless spirit opened my Bible and turned to Psalms. It's what I've been reading in lately. Though some are imprecatory, they are also a great source of comfort when searching for understanding and comfort. Psalm 72 was where I was at and though I was enjoying it, I also felt like I would probably be reading a while until I felt better, until I got to the end and v.18 was there.

In the silence of thoughts it felt like the first time that I was reading the word "only". Four little letters, but such a wonderful thought in the middle of the verse. God ONLY doeth wonderous things. Think about it. It's all He knows how to do. Now I can't explain why the unpleasant and even unfair things in life happen, which they do, except that God means to work them out for good, Romans 8:28 ~ And we that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. I fell asleep that night at peace and happy that the Lord had shown me something from his word. And as it happens most times, once God gets your attention with something it seldom leaves that thought behind. So Psalm 72:18 became my meditation for the rest of the week.

Now we arrive at Friday. The week got better. I got some of my financial things figured out and things were definitely looking up. I got my mail and there was an envelope from Sallie Mae, my previous money supplier for my school loan. Back in April, knowing that school was going to have to go back on hold for a bit, I made the point of paying them off first, for what I owed. They are ruthless at getting money back and I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have those loose ends tying thing up. So my first thought was "Great, another bill." However, to my surprise, it was instead a reimbursement check. Now I was never good at Math, but I know how to add. So how I made this mistake I don't know, but I did and boy O boy what a great mistake! A mistake worth $1,975. My finances are still being worked out, but this will be a huge help in setting up some new things that I need to take care of. It was also a blessing to know that I had something tangible to put to my latest batch of prayer requests. God is never a day late and a dollar short when taking care of our needs, and it lifted my spirits tonight.

Whether it's money, relationships, school, bills, car problems, lonliness, heartache, illness, or a new opportunity God cares about your "only", for He only doeth wonderous things, and it does my heart quite well to know that nothing the Lord does is mediocre.

Money Matters with Grace & Honor

I wasn't sure what to write for the progress that my debt ticker above now shows. In case you haven't stopped by here's the link to my new endeavor, and my debt ticker used to read 5.9% instead of the 14.6% that it reads now. Yes, that means A big payment was made today, the last of those for a little while yet *sigh* but it does feel nice in any case.

I want to try and make at least one monthly post about the progress towards my debt reduction, but this month has presented some challenges and I didn't think that I was going to be able to sit still long enough to digest all that has come my way. That is until this month's issue of Grace & Honor. Grace & Honor is an online magazine that is published by Lehigh Valley Baptist Church, in Emmaus , PA. I have a couple friends there that write for it and I almost always receive some kind of blessing from what the ladies writing for it share, not just my friends, but this month 2 of them wrote about finances and the role that they play in our lives. Ironic? Not so much. That actually seems to happen to me a lot, especially with one of the writers, because God knows what I need and when. Even before my own heart knows that I need the encouragement, or admonishment, the Lord already has tools prepared to meet my needs as He sees fit. Don't get me wrong, the magazine does not take place over my own studies in the word, or my church attendance, but as a supplement it's always a fun and encouraging place to go to in this W.W.W., which is often hard to find in the world.

Jackie wrote about Money Myths. What they are for a single person and how we are to treat money. I won't reteach what she wrote you should just go check it our for yourself. Shamefully I have not always been the wisest steward with the money that God has given to me. The Myth of money is that there is eternal security in finances and the things that it allows us to buy, when money is in fact simply a means to an end. Money will not last forever, the only thing that will last forever is the word of God.

Luke 21:33 ~ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Katina in her article for Two Cents wrote about Hezikiah's tenacity and how his willingness to serve the Lord with his whole heart was the cause for his prosperity. To sum up her article, and what I took away from it was, be faithful to God with your money, be accountable for the money that God has given to you, spend wisely and most importantly DON'T give up on your financial goals. Freedom of this kind doesn't happen over night, unlike the freedom that God's gift of salvation offers. It takes tenacity to sick to God's way of doing things, but in the end His ways are always meant to make a Christian prosperous. Prosperous spiritually that is, because without the static of making up for financial irresponsibility, and back-pedaling out bad decisions, the guidance that the Lord gives is easier to listen to and act upon.

Tenacity I have in spades, something that has been a blessing when used on the side of righteousness and at times it has been a curse because when I dig my heals in it's often hard to get me to see a situation differently. And I've never really been a fan of mythology either, so I really have no business believing the myths that the satisfaction that money tells me I should have anyway. The only thing that I can see to do is stick to it and listen to God and not my wallet, each time I want to make a purchase that I can't afford.

Now if I could only be patient while doing this:/ Something else to work on for another time.

Just As I Am. . .A new endeavor

I had considered starting a new blog to discuss my new endeavor, but it just didn't feel right. Why? because I probably wouldn't have let anyone know about it and instead just let people stumble upon it as they would in their blog/web surfing. It would also be a point of digression for me. See when I started this blog I was tentative about letting people into my actual thoughts and actions, but that changed when I started my list (30 x 30). And by starting something new it just seemed more like I'd be going back to that place I was before. But with the support that I received with my list this too I know I'll be supported with by my friends.

Let me begin at the beginning, like many other people these days I'm paying off my debt:( I got myself into it and I'm working my way out, one dollar at a time (see above graph). Let me also give a disclaimer lest a blog surfer stumble upon my prose and think less of my character. . .I'm in NO way making this blog about asking for money! So you will not see any ad sense ads on here, begging you to click so I can make a dime off of the time that a reader may spend here. This new blogging endeavor is about the lessons I learn as I regain my financial freedom.

However, lest I forget Him whose hand has formed me, it's not just about my desires. I became very convicted after I read Psalm 37:21 in my devotions a few weeks ago...

Psalm 37:21 ~ The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Ummm. . .need I really say anymore? And what I realized while reading this was that the Lord puts debt on the same level as all other wickedness and in case you're wondering the word wicked means: Evil in principle or practice; deviating from the divine law; addicted to vice; sinful; immoral. This is a word of comprehensive signification, extending to every thing that is contrary to the moral law, and both to persons and actions. We say, a wicked man, a wicked deed, wicked ways, wicked lives, a wicked heart, wicked designs, wicked works (Webster's 1828 dictionary).

Ouch! My toes still hurt.

There are "necessary" forms of debt that people almost can't get around these days, primarily I'm thinking about a mortgage. But that doesn't mean that you live at the level of debt and just keep piling it on and not paying it back, how do you think the US got into this recession in the first place? And while I have been making payments (WAY more than the minimum) on my card, I also know that I can do better and so I will! So here are the goals:

1. I've already completed (pay off my laptop) which as you can see from the copy of my Dell statement below, I'm even Steven with Dell

2. Pay off my Stafford Loan. Which will be within the next 2 months.
3. Pay off my card will be within the next 2 years. Although my exact calculations take me to a lower number, that time frame seems to give me a little bit of a buffer.
4. Because my bills will soon be reduced a little, that extra $ will go into savings.

The key I know is going to be finding that place of contentment as I strive towards these goals. I see meager times ahead of me, and in all honesty when times get like that I like to bury my head in the sand and pretend that I can afford the things that I want. Argh, honesty hurts! Doesn't it?

I have a friend that works for my bank and I've asked her to help me out by keeping me accountable. I know I'm going to need her so I was happy when she accepted my request. It's not like I plan on showing her every bill that crosses the path of my mailbox, or that she'll access my bank account without my knowledge, but it's more to the affect of having her help me to NOT justify a purchase I know that I can't afford. If I didn't think that I could trust her, and that our friendship could handle it I wouldn't even consider the request and I know she wouldn't have said yes, because our friendship is to important to let pettiness and pride affect it.

I'm hoping that through this new subject that I'll learn some valuable lessons and that by chronicling this experience it will give me a look back on the blessings and the trials that God brings my way out of it, much like the journey that my list took me on, which was an exciting ride itself. It will also give me a new subject to blog about, which I have not had since completing my list last year. You're welcome to leave your comments on my posts, experiences that you've had, advice, and lessons you've learned too. But as with all my posts I have the discretion to not post them if I find them offensive in any way shape or form. Please leave that garbage outside of my sphere.