Put on, put off February 25, 2009

Philippians 2:14-16   “Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (ESV)

I read that in my quiet time yesterday and boy did I have some repenting to do!  It is hard to shine as a light in the world when you act like the world.  My attitude about this pregnancy of late has not exactly been pleasant.  I had given myself over to much grumbling and an attitude of self-pity, poor me.  What a great relief is is to know that God has made me a new creation through his Holy Spirit, capable of putting on a new self, every day, even moment by moment. 

Of course there are things in life each of us could choose to complain about on a daily basis, but how silly is that when we reflect upon Christ and the cross!  Just thinking about all the grumbling I had been doing in the pastfew days was so sad.   I needed to put off my old self (Ephesians 4:22-24) and put on my new self.  I began thanking God for this pregnancy and all that came with it.  How blessed I am to soon have another child!  How blessed am I that we conceivedso quickly.  How blessed am I to have such a wonderful husband to love so deeply, especially with the challenges that pregnancy sometimes brings to a marriage. Oh yes, and how blessed I am that these minor aches and pains mean that I that much closer to meeting Titus. 

I am so thankful for God’s word and the work of the Holy Spirit in my heart.

Provision and Faith February 18, 2009

So I was thinking once again about God’s provision for us during this past year. We filed our federal taxes a few weeks ago and I saw our total income.  As most of you know Trevor and I moved to Kansas and while he worked for New York Life he did not get paid during that time (he did get some money in January).  Therefor we did not have an income from about June-August.  It was an amazing time to see God give us everything we needed.  We were able to stay at two different places and not have to pay rent among other things.  What was more amazing to me was to look at our income this year as well as our debt paid this year and see how faithful God is.

Our taxable income was $25,783 (we did also recieve some support when we left Harvest as well as a few couples who have commited to supporing us monthly) brining our total income to $29,983.  In 2008 we were able to put $12,732.16 towards our debt (and as you know we only have 2 left, our car and graduate school).  That means we put 42% of our income at debt in 2008.  That also means we managed to live on an average of $1,437 a month.  That in encouraging to me to know that we only need about $1,500 a month!  Now I am sure there are still places we could cut back but I am pretty happy where we are at.

 

 Now we are scheduled to get our tax return (federal, if some of you pay attention to the news you may have seen Kanasas may not be returning our money to us, but that is a whole different story) soon and are trying to decide what to do with the money.  Of course we should put it towards our car loan you say!  Well, that was our intention, but we recently got wind that Trevor will be laid off at the end of March.  We are so thankful that Trevor found out now instead of March 31st that the layoff is to occur.   

But now here is my dilema, I realize it would be wise to save that money in case he cannot find a job quickly, but I guess I don’t know what is best because I  feels like if I were to keep that money I would not be fully trusting in God.

I’ll let you know what we decide, but in the meantime I am so grateful that God has already used situations in our lives to grow my faith in God’s plan.  I am not worried or anxious at this point and don’t anticpate becoming so, I am though discouraged as is Trevor.  We are still praying in faith that God will allow us to pay off our debt by the end of this year.  Iis our hope that God will provide Trevor with a better paying job to allow us to reach that goal.  Thanks for your prayers!