Blessings

I would like to take a moment and talk/think about the blessings that surround us.  I'm mostly talking about me here, because mostly this blog is about me.  But I bet you could apply this to you too!  God is so GOOD!  I am so blessed, and sometimes, like now, I am so humbled and touched and just AWESTRUCK, that I want to share how awesome HE is!

Why?  Why am I so blessed?  What has me so worked up, you ask, that I'm waxing a bit religious fanatic?

Nothing HUGE.  Not like winning the lottery huge or life saving huge.  I didn't see an angel, or watch some huge media-worthy miracle.  BUT here is how awesome God is:

I usually do my major weekly grocery shopping on Mondays.  Two things happened this week that prevented my usual trip.  1.  I didn't really feel like it (definitely not a valid excuse, I know) 2.  I had a grand total of $25 in my pocket.

Ummmm...how am I going to manage this one, I asked.  Lord, how am I supposed to feed a family of 4 with $25 for a whole week?  And by the way, the gas tank was below empty.  Like....waaay below empty and I was praying the fumes would last to the gas station and I wouldn't hit too many red lights.  Oh, and by the way, I only made like $32 last week, so that means I don't have much money coming in a couple days to cover it.  Oh, and its the 1st so my husband's check is pretty well gone towards rent.  Yeah, and also there are several bills due.  And my brother Josh just got home from Afghanistan right in time for his birthday. (Which is actually part of how I got myself into this fix.  Extra trips out to my mom and dad's to visit.  Extra events to plan for.  And several extra low-level activities that added up.)  But that's ok.  I know that the Lord won't let us starve.  I KNOW that GOD IS WATCHING OUT FOR US AND HE HAS A PLAN!  So, Sunday morning I put my regular tithe in the offering plate, said a little prayer and put my faith in Him that made me.

Back to Monday.  I put  $10 in the gas tank and took Terran to school.  Then I went home and looked through my cupboards and took stock of what I could improvise into some meals.  Then, after school I went to Walmart and spent $15 on a few essentials that would help to supplement what I already had.  "We might be eating a little weird.  But we will be eating."  Was my thought at the register.  Got home and called one of my bill people who I knew I owed, but hadn't gotten a bill for yet.  It was almost half of what I had budgeted for!  I had budgeted $75.  The balance was $41.  Pheww, now at least I can buy some milk and juice!  A couple hours later I went to check the mail and our tax return had come in!  $4200.  Now, that money has also all been spoken for so I couldn't get tooooo excited, but still....  I proceeded to call the first person on the list slated for the tax check. (mixed blessing here:) I had thought we owed $400.  Turns out we owe closer to $1,052.  Ouch!  But they were willing to work out a payment plan of $133 per month starting May 25th.  Well...the good news I guess is that that means I can buy groceries!

 Also, I got ahold of another big bill person.  My student loans!  Yikes!   THis one kinda caught me off guard because I had applied for a defferment a couple months ago.  I had wondered at the time if I really qualified, but hadn't recieved notification that I had gotten denied either.  So I naturally assumed no news was good news and let it ride.  Ya...all the way till they call me this afternoon and inform me that my account is 75 days overdue and I owe 400 something dollars due immediately and how would I like to make that payment today?  My hear hit the floor...."I'm sorry....I caaan't make that payment today...I'm sorry."  I manage to say, while frantically wondering how to make this happen.  "Its ok" the nice lady says "I understand.  Now mam if we were to lower your monthly payment to $50 would you be able to resume payments in June?"  I'm floored that this is even an option!  I do a quick calculation in my head.  "yes, I think so."  and just like that my loans receive a "courtesy forebearance" to bring them up to current and my new monthly payment is $41 per month with the first payment due June 16th.

The whole point is that in 3 days I went from feeding my family a plethora of cooks surprise and raman noodles to having a REAL grocery budget, a tank of gas and being a little more on top of my bills.  And all I can say is "praise God!" 

Sometimes life gets out of hand.  Sometimes we don't know what to do.   Sometimes we wanna give in and give up.  But God always has us in His hand.  He always knows what to do.  And when we give up, He is there to take over.