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!

God’s Faithfulness in 2008 January 17, 2009

A new year is upon us, thus it is only right that I time to reflect upon the year that has ended.  I thought it would be a fun family tradition to sit down together each year and remind one another of all the ways we have seen God at work in our lives.  Let the list begin!

By God’s grace and provision we were able to pay off both our undergraduate loans.

God provided two jobs for Trevor since we moved to Kansas City.

We found places to stay in Kansas City for about 2 months that fit our needs and were rent free.

We conceived another child (Titus James will be here soon)!

Trevor has had many witnessing opportunities at his current job (and pray for us because tomorrow we will be meeting with a family that wants us to come over weekly and teach them and their children about God and the Bible).

This summer we didn’t think we would have enough money to make it another month but God proved his promise true and provided for us through several different means.

We live close to our friends from college and the only people we knew in Kansas before moving.

Trevor got a promotion in his job after only being there a couple of months.

We were able to get free health insurance that will last until after the baby is born.

Those are a few of the “biggies” that came to our minds.  I’m sure there are many more ways God has blessed us this past year, but this is the short list for now.

How was God faithful to you in 2008?

Rewards and Faith December 8, 2008

So as I said before I wanted to spend some time looking at Scripture that has to do with prayer in hopes that God’s Word would encourage me in my quest to pray faith sized requests.  Although I looked up quite a few passages today I wanted to share and expound on two verses that got me thinking.

This passage comes from Matthew and is about the Pharisees who pray in the street .  Although the whole passage relates to prayer this particular verse intrigued me. 

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father who sees you in secret will reward you.

There are several things that strike me.  First, God wants us to pray to him.  The Maker of the universe WANTS to talk with ME.  Incredible to think about, the grace of God abounds in my life so much more than I even realize or give thought to.  Next, God rewardsus for praying!   Prayer is a Christian discipline, (activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill as per dictionary.com) it is something I should have a desire to do out of my love for God.  So, what is so amazing is that God rewards us for doing something that we should want to do, something that improves our Christian character, faith, and walk with God.  Now who knows what the reward is, it could be the improvement of my Christian character, faith, and walk with God, or it could be a reward stored for me in heaven or even that God would answer my prayer in the way I wanted.  Either way, amazing.

The second verse I wanted to reflect on is Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. 

This verse, I feel, speaks directly to the idea of faith sized requests. This is exactly what I need from God’s Word to encourage me to grow in my faith.  The question still remains, how do I get this faith?

Faith Sized Requests December 5, 2008

A faith sized request is something that that you pray for that you truly believe God can do.  Now, at first, that seems a bit silly, I mean, we all know God is God and he can do ANYTHING.  However, I have found that some of my requests are bigger than my faith, meaning, I may believe God will do something in my head, but my heart just doesn’t believe.  I have been convicted to stop praying for those things for which I do not truly believe God can do. 

I have also been trying to record some of the things I do request and the way God answers them in order to build my faith and be able to ask for anything with confidence.  Now, I do realize, just because I ask God for something does not mean he will answer the prayer the way I hope for.  Also, I don’t want to imply that my time in prayer is one big ‘to-do’ list for God, rather I want to focus on this aspect of my prayer life.

There is one request that I have that I want to have the faith to ask God, but as of yet, I have not gotten there.  Trevor has already asked that God would get us out of our debt by next Christmas.  Now in my head, I know God can do anything, but my heart just doesn’t believe because I know I cannot ask this of God with a clean conscience. 

I have been working on asking some smaller faith sized requests to build my faith (these particular requests all deal with our finances since that is what I am once again trying to muster up the faith to ask God for).  A few months back I asked God to provide a way for us to not have to pay an outstanding medical bill for Ethan’s vaccinations.  After I talked with the office manager, the account was cleared to zero, saving us about $300!  I have also asked that God would provide a way for us to put even more towards our debt than budgeted.  Recently, gas prices have dropped and we have had a surplus in that area of our budget to apply towards our loans.  Most recently I had wanted to have Trevor’s NIU loan paid off by January, but I have the faith and have asked God that we be able to pay off that loan this month.  God is providing extra funds for us to use towards our debt by allowing Trevor to get overtime hours at his job at a pay rate of time and a half (which, when all is said and done should be just about enough to pay off the loan this month!).  These answers to prayer along with others are slowly building my faith and I hope to soon be able to ask God the same request that Trevor has shared with  me, that we would be debt free by Christmas 2009.  There are so many ways God could do this, each one simple for him.  I can’t wait until I have the faith to ask.

Besides recording the answers to prayers it has been helpful to go to the Bible and see exactly what God says about our prayers.  I will reflect on that in a bit.

Meanwhile, to read the article that inspired the post see http://www.bulletininserts.org/faithsized.html