Ch- ch- ch- changes...

 I'm starting this post with a cute picture of my darling husband and darling puppy just because it makes my heart melt, and I'm betting it makes yours melt too. Seriously, can you get any cuter than that?

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted. 5 days to be exact. A lot can happen in 5 days apparently. God can teach you lots and lots of lessons. I sort of put all those lessons together this morning in a marathon session of bathroom scrubbing this morning. I've not scrubbed so hard or cleaned so thoroughly or had quite such a *hello!* experience in all my life. Nothing like some good manual labor to make the lightbulb come on.

So, cut to the chase already, I'm sure you're all thinking.

Well. Here we go.

A little back story: we've been rather financially strained lately. I've been stressed about money. Things were NOT working out well. I was getting pretty scared about stuff - we were going the opposite way from what I wanted to be going. I didn't understand why this was happening to us. And I was angry at myself, and at us as a marital unit, for not taking care of our money from the beginning. For being irresponsible. For being ignorant.

So on Friday, I called to see what day I'd be cancelled, since that's become a recurring theme around our unit lately. Lo and behold, I got to work all my days! And an extra! Our census has picked up, and we've got some people out due to some unfortunate circumstances that are sort-of ongoing - long story short, I'm getting some extra days here and there. I am very, very thankful for that.

So I worked my weekend, and on Monday as well. And then yesterday, while I was home with Luna, I got a phone call from Mark.

It kind of rocked my world. Our world.

Because, get this friends, Mark got a JOB.

Yes, that's what I said. A real, live job, that pays money! It's part-time, but it's in a library, and it has good potential for advancement.We are hopeful. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. And I can breathe easily for the first time in a while.

God is so good. We are so dumb. See, God tried to teach us to manage our money early on. We both had jobs for a total of a year and several months before we moved to Birmingham. Did we pay stuff off? Nope. We accrued more debt. About a year and a half ago, my parents gave us the book Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Did we read it? Nope. Not until about a month and a half ago. So God took it upon Himself to teach us a lesson, definitely for our own good. It was hard because we made it hard on ourselves. But I am thankful that we're learning now, despite what I felt two weeks ago when a quarter of my paycheck was docked because of cancellations at work. 

God had to make us scared. He needed us to wake up and see what we were doing and where we were headed if we'd kept it up. We never had huge irresponsible moments, and we weren't terrible at managing money. We were just irresponsible with small things, and not stellar at managing money. Little by little, that adds up. God is so faithful though - He promises us that He will take care of us, and that He did. As tight as it got, and as scared as I was, we never missed a bill or were late on a payment or anything like that, thanks in part to the benevolence and love of our families. We did get a good look at what it could be like, though - a two-by-four to the forehead does the trick every time.

And now I'm getting the extra days that I'm used to having back. Mark now has a job that pays more than he's ever been paid before. God is faithful, and He is blessing us so much. He just wanted us to learn how to handle the money we have before He gave us anymore. He wanted us to trust Him to provide for our needs. And I am so thankful for that.

There are other lessons that have been learned, lessons about patience and love and kindness and worry, but the bottom line is that God will provide for our every need even when we can't see how. That's the greatest thing. I'm glad that He can see the future, even when we can't.


What has God been teaching you lately?