First of all the group I mentioned before that has adopted our family and brings gifts to our girly and us just dropped off another gift this past week. They have given us money before, and we put it in an envelope and marked it "Riley" so we have it for the parking garage and meals (although we use it at her Indianapolis appointments that aren't at Riley as well). Anyway, we had our oil changed last week and asked the guy to check our brakes. The verdict was they needed changed. We are blessed that we have a friend who owns a mobile mechanic service. So he could do it and it is not as expensive as most places. We still weren't sure how soon we would be able to come up with the money. However, true to His nature, God showed up to meet our need. The group (actually a family that is part of the group) showed up with presents for Abigail and a card with cash for Jason and I. Now if I'm honest I would have much rather done a date night with Jason, but we decided that the timing was such that perhaps it should be used for new brakes. And so it will be.
I mentioned in our last post that we had signed Abigail up for ballet. To be honest, we weren't sure how we were going to pull off the finances for it every month. We knew it would be good for Abigail, and decided that we would do what we had to so it would work. I offered my domestic services (cleaning, sewing, crocheting) to anyone who might have something that needed done. Jason talked about delivering newspapers. We chose to give up our occasional (probably too occasional) sodas from McDonald's that make us feel happy some days. We were going to buckle down because this would be great for Abigail. And we have been buckling. And a wonderful friend gave us money this morning that will finance quite a few months of ballet.
We have been blessed with quite a few gifts over the past few months. We are mostly fine with our lives being what most would consider simple. We are fine with meals at home, one car, and no cable. We enjoy the freedom of being cell phone free. I love saving money through clipping coupons, shopping at different stores for different things, and finding free events to attend. But sometimes it does feel extra nice when someone gives us a gift certificate or money and says "go out to eat." Or even "go out on a date."
And at the end of the day as I sit on the couch I feel undeserving. We have not always been great with finances, but have gotten better with each passing year. We live simply, budget hard, and know that had we done better early on we wouldn't be here now. We are making our way slowly towards financial freedom and have eliminated all of our credit card debt. We have only a car, two student loans, and a house left to pay off. But sometimes the debt accompanied with things like needing new brakes, or front steps, starts to feel overwhelming. We wonder if we will ever be out from under the hold of other companies and banks. And then God reminds us that money is nothing to Him. That He will provide for our needs. And then He shows up even greater and provides for things like a meal out as a family, and our sweet little girl being able to take ballet. So to our friends, and the wonderful group who has blessed us, thank you. And to a God who cares about all things, thank you for always providing. We pray that someday our finances will look much different so we can bless others as much as we have been.
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