You guys, God is so good. I don't doubt his ability to provide for our needs, but sometimes it blows me away how often he gives us the fluff of life too. Want to hear what our last few days have been like? Of course you do!
Thursday - We were given an unexpected check from someone who wanted to pay for one month of our utilities. We already have utility money, but now we can put it toward something else for one month.
Friday - We get some junk mail from Nielsen TV Ratings. They've been in our neighborhood all week doing door-to-door surveys. I don't ever watch TV, so I turned the guy down. Well, the "no" houses must be getting a second chance via snail mail. I almost threw the junk mail away, but opened it simply because they've been parked outside our house all week. There was $5 cash in it as a "token of appreciation" for filling out the enclosed survey. I realize that's not a huge chunk of change, but it's free money! So, Tim, who does watch some TV, filled it out and we pocketed the cash. He'll use it to go lunch with a friend.
Saturday - We received a gift card to Circuit City for over $200. It belonged to someone who won't be able to use it up before Circuit City goes out of business, so they totally blessed us with it. Tim's going to have fun shopping with it!!
Isn't that awesome?
I just want to challenge all of you, but particularly those who are broke or who are irresponsible with your money, to be as wise as you can with the money you have and see how God just covers all your needs and blesses your socks off with non-essentials.
8 comments:
God is good!
What does Circuit City have that you want?
I'm giving the CC gift card to Tim with complete freedom to buy whatever floats his boat and I'm sure they have lots of things he wants. :) It wouldn't surprise me if he came home with an iPod, but we'll see.
Can I have some of your friends? hehe, just kidding. I can totally agree with that, that if you are wise with your money, the Lord will give you more than you can imagine.
Here is an example from us: My parents have this really awesome coffee pot that is normally $100 (we LOVE coffee, so I desperatly wanted it), they bought it on sale for $50 and called me up to tell me that they were having a close-out on it and it was only $25. It was hard to say no, but $25 is still way too much to spend for us when we already have a perfectly good one. Then a couple weeks later, I was at a GSale (as always) and there it was.. the same exact coffee pot.. just for me (I wanted black, and it was white, but who cares, it still makes amazing coffee) I bought it for $3. I know it was totally a blessing from the Lord. :-D
Rachelle - That's awesome!! You are the queen of garage sales. :)
Wow Bethany! What a wonderful testimony! I'm truly thrilled for you. I know Tim will have fun with the Circuit City card. Be sure and let us know what he buys.
Hey Bethany!
I wouldn't leave this comment on anyone else's blog because I wouldn't want it to be taken the wrong way, but I think I know you well enough (and you know me well enough) to know that I'm asking sincerly and not out of jealousy, frustration or anything like that...
As I read your posts (which I truly, truly am happy for you!), I have to wonder if a lot of the blessings you're receiving have more to do with your friends than God. Now, I'm not saying God isn't good or that God doesn't bless us or that all good things don't ultimately come from Him – He has obviously blessed you with great friends!
But I know that for us, we've received 2 unexpected gifts like you've mentioned, but not the shower of blessings you're receiving – which is not to say we couldn't use them.
However, I know beyond a doubt that God provides for our family and has done so – and blessed us – by providing work that I can do at home while being here with my girls.
I'm not upset that He's not showering us with extra blessings, but I guess it just seems to me that it has more to do with the people in your life...
I'm kind of rambling because I'm really just thinking it through and wanting to get your thoughts.
Mandi - I read your comment earlier and I've been thinking about it for a couple hours. Here are my thoughts, not necessarily directed at you or in any order.
The "showers" of blessings we've been receiving haven't all been large financial blessings. In fact, most of them haven't. Some are small financial things, others aren't financial at all.
I think that it's important to not compare your situation to someone else's. And I'm talking to the general "you", not just Mandi. We are all blessed, but not in the same ways or at the same time. Some are blessed with home ownership, while others rent or are homeless. Some are blessed with as many pregnancies as they want, while other struggle to get and/or stay pregnant. Some are blessed with fatty paychecks, while others have to decide between eating or having electricity.
See what I'm saying? So while we do have awesome friends, the blessings we've been getting lately haven't all been from a filthy rich and incredibly generous circle of close friends. Not at all. Some of these things have been super random, others have come from people who are going through some really tough times themselves, etc.
Ultimately the provision is from the Lord, whether he provides completely through a paycheck or through a variety of other means. I think that when the provision comes through a paycheck it's easy to stop considering it a blessing or provision. It's just considered "the way it should be".
I guess my point is that we're all probably getting bigger showers of blessings than we realize. I'd encourage all of you to start a list of blessings - particularly financial or tangible things if that's the area you're discouraged in right now. I started a list like that several months ago and it totally blesses me to read through it. For those who aren't struggling with finances, then make a list of non-tangible blessings in your life - good vision, friendly neighbors, a close family, a comfortable home, choices in education, etc.
I think we could all afford to realize that many of the things we take for granted would be considered a blessing by many other people.
So, that's random & I don't know if it's really what you're getting at, but there it is. :)
I needed to read that. We are trying very hard to stay on top of our money. And I'm giving it to God every morning... I know not to expect him to bless me, but I know he only will if I am faithful.
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