I have a treat for you today! I am blessed to have my precious sister Lindsey guest post for me today and next Thursday. I am splitting up her uplifting post into two segments so make sure you check back next week for the “rest of the story”! {remember who said that?!?}
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Most financial experts will tell you that a great way to save money is to create a budget and stick to it. Sounds great…if you have enough money coming in to pay your bills. What if on paper it looks as if there is no way you can meet even your most basic financial obligations? Get a credit card? Apply for government assistance? Get another job?
This is a testimony of how The Provider, God Himself, provided for my family and me during a two-year stretch that stretched both our faith and our wisdom in how to deal with the money that God allows to flow through our hands.
About three years ago, I was a first grade teacher while my husband was working where he works now as a testing facilitator, and we had no children. We went from worrying about eating out too much to worrying about how we could eat at home without over drafting the account. Why did we choose to have this struggle?
We had been trying to conceive for nearly two years and the doctors said I would have to take medicine in order to become pregnant. In January of 2009 I resigned my teaching job because I felt like God had something else for me, but I had no idea what. We thought maybe foster care or another teaching job closer to home. I quit in obedience and faith, and the Lord rewarded us. The very next month, I found out I was expecting! I quickly knew that my new job in the fall would be taking care of my brand new baby.
In October of that year, I gave birth to a precious baby boy. He was perfect to us even though he was born with two physical defects that required 2 surgeries and massive amounts of money and time being given to the doctors’ offices. At first my thoughts were, “Good thing I’m not working. I couldn’t hold down a job since I’m going to a doctor at least once a week.” My thoughts rapidly became, “How are we going to pay for all this?” In my 3 years of teaching, we had not placed a high priority on saving, so that was quickly dry. We were still adjusting from two incomes to one, and now, we had these unexpected expenses. Should I go back to work? Should we get a credit card for these ‘emergencies’? Should we apply for government assistance?
My whole life I had wanted to stay home with my kids, so the answer to the first question was a hardy “NO.” We both had gone our whole lives without credit cards and feared that using one for ‘emergencies only’ would turn into ‘we have to have groceries, and gas, and clothes, and…” so that was a resounding no as well. And I didn’t feel right asking for assistance being as it was clearly a choice for me not to work.
So how did we survive not having the money to pay our basic bills, and pay off all our medical bills and stay credit-card-debt free?
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Well folks I’m gonna be cruel and cut you off there! Next Thursday’s post will have the answers! I must say, my little sister is very wise for her 20-something years. Don’t you love her already?
Have a great Thursday!
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Well folks I’m gonna be cruel and cut you off there! Next Thursday’s post will have the answers! I must say, my little sister is very wise for her 20-something years. Don’t you love her already?
Have a great Thursday!
Thank you so much for subscribing!
About Kelli Hays
I love Lindsey, ty for sharing her with us Kelli.