It was tax time this past week. RM, who now has no time of his own any more, had to somehow find time to get his taxes done. Some hate doing their taxes, we actually really love it! It is an amazing time of reflection as we look back over the year and see where our money went, why it went there, mistakes we may have made, and always, always, it shows us God's great provision.
For the last two years, our taxes have revealed one major thing - we made no money! How did we survive? We don't know. It's no wonder we weren't making a lot of progress on our debt during that time. Thanks to generous parents, kind siblings, anonymous gifts, frugal living, we made it through. Those dry times were hard. I'm so grateful to now have regular work for my husband. So much so that it's a problem now! They want him working more than full-time! Interestingly, now that he's there, he's already on the other side of the interview table. He'll be interviewing two guys today that applied for a job that came up recently. He cannot believe how many people applied for the job. He cannot believe how many people won't get the job. He started to realize, maybe it was the same situation when he applied? The job he has now is no doubt a gift from God as countless people probably applied, too and countless people probably got turned away. We just continue to be so grateful.
I can make a Biblical argument for why going through your financial picture is such a good thing to do and that God actually blesses that. Proverbs 27:23-27 says this, "Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever, and does a crown endure to all generations? When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls."
We actually have flocks and herds, but most people do not. So I asked the kids to put that into modern translation and they said things like, "Know where your money is going, know the state of your business." The Good News Bible says, "wealth is not permanent. Not even nations last forever."
It seems like there is a condition to this verse. If you do know the condition of your flocks and you do give attention to your herds then you will be provided for. Your "lambs will provide clothing, and the goats the price of a field." The work you do, be it farming or whatever job you have, will give you what you need. Not necessarily extravagance, but what you need - clothing, food. It even mentions that it will give you enough food for your household and for your "girls". For me, my household has included 12 kids all week, (sometimes 15) 2 adults (sometimes 3). That's a lot of household! But we've had enough! I don't know how it happens, but the food in our fridge stretches, I swear. I've learned to make really big meals that can last more than one meal. No one has complained and I'm not actually standing in front of the stove all the time which I also find odd. Do I have "girls", i.e. cleaning ladies or servants? Hardly. But I do have lots of little helpers. I also have "girls" in the form of washers, dryers, vacuum cleaners, stoves, fridges....things that didn't exist in Bible times which would have been like "girls"! And the Bible says there will be enough for the "maintenance" of my "girls". Sure enough, we have them running smoothly (except for the dishwasher, but hopefully that will be up and running soon).
So you can see why doing our taxes isn't drudgery, it's actually a blessing to see how God has provided and taken care of us during the last two years. All our kids have clothing. My whole household over the last year where we've housed this large family has been taken care of. Our house is like a can of sardines. Right now there are 3 girls asleep on the couch in the family room (it looks like they had a party while I was in bed sleeping). 4 more girls are asleep upstairs. 3 boys in one room, 3 more in another.....it's amazing!
On top of all this, I'm supposed to be heading away. I have such mixed emotions, leaving my family, spending money that I feel so guilty about (probably all moms feel this way if/when they go away even for an afternoon!), leaving this other family in the lurch, vacationing when I should be here.....how does a mom ever get away without feeling awful? Yet, it's booked, I'm excited! I'm going and I know it will be great once I'm gone and I know it will be fine while I'm away....but what am I supposed to do with all my emotions? So I prayed and I prayed. I needed to pick up a few things for the trip. I hate spending money, but when your clothes are literally worn out, it was time to pick up a few things. I didn't want to be a martyr, either....ah, the battle. I prayed again.....the miracles began.
It began in the car on the ride to the stores. I turned on the radio and literally caught 5 minutes of a sermon on money. I actually have this verse underlined in my Bible, "Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." (Proverbs 3:9,10) The preacher said, "This isn't prosperity teaching. This is simply saying God will provide for you, whatever it is that you need." He went on to say, "What will that be? I can't say, but He will give grace to you in whatever form you need it." I was so encouraged. Earlier on this week, my mom had encouraged me with those kinds of words in light of the fact we had such a full house. She said she was always praying for us. What form of grace was I needing? I needed grace in my emotions. Was I allowed to go on this trip? If so, God needed to show me through His "graces".
First "grace"....the last time we went I was the only turkey with a carry on bag that you actually "carry". We went through what seemed like miles of airport walking. Everyone else had their cute little roller suitcases, but not me. My arm was so sore by the time I got on the airplane. So I asked my mom if she had an extra one. I knew I couldn't go out and buy one, those are so expensive! But then, as I went out yesterday to pick up a few things, a thought came into my head to go to the local thrift store down the street. Nah, they won't have one, I thought, but then I also wondered why the thought had gone into my head in the first place...hmmmmm....sure enough, I walked in and saw several almost the second I walked in. These things price out to be as much as $275 new. My suitcase? $3. Yup. 3 bucks. I walked out of there so happy!!!! I'll be rolling through the airport with my new "wheelie" suitcase!
Next, I went towards a mall. I hate malls. Hate, hate, hate. So much walking, so much distraction, so much overspending, so much to be tempted by. I was determined to go to one store only and somehow hoped to find all the things I needed in there. But as I drove, I went by a Value Village. I groaned. Was I supposed to shop there instead? Fine, fine, fine. I decided to turn in and give it a chance. In some ways it is way easier to shop in one store like that than a huge mall. I quickly went through all the racks, picked a ton of things to try on and picked a few things I liked, quite a few things actually. I was amazed because they all seemed brand new. I think that happens a lot in those thrift stores. I got to the cashier hoping she would say, "Everything is 50% off!" She didn't. I showed her my cards from the store, also hoping for some major discount. No luck. After she added it all up, she turned to me and said, "I'm going to fill out this card for you today and you'll get your entire purchase at 30% off." That was a huge savings! For all the things I got, I couldn't believe it. I thanked her profusely for her kindness to me....and I thanked God, another grace.
Next stop, the mall. I only needed flip flops and a new pair of sandals. I was determined to not be distracted by anything else. Nothing jumped out at me, except for a randam pair of sandals lying on the ground near some other sandals. No price, no other shoes to compare them to. They were my exact size. I took them to the cashier and joked with her, "2 for $7?" as I had one pair of flip flops which were supposed to be 2 for $7, but the other sandals I picked up were leather. There's no way they would have been that price. The lowest prices for other leather sandals in the store was $24-$29. I know those are still good prices, but I was looking for a deal! She couldn't find the price anywhere so they had to look on line - $29. Ooooooh, I didn't love that price. She said, "Don't worry. This will work in your favour. When we don't find a price in the store and they are from an on-line return, you get them for 90% OFF." I had to get her to repeat that. 90% off!? Was she joking? My two pairs of shoes came to less than $9. I couldn't believe it.....again, more grace!
Finally, I had to get an alarm clock for my son. The sales person and I looked and looked at all the clocks. I was hemming and hawing. Finally she said, "I can give you a deal." It wasn't 90% this time, but it was still a nice discount. She didn't have to do that. And who does that in a mall?! You aren't supposed to be able to negotiate prices in a mall!
I walked out of that mall amazed. I felt God had been with me in each purchase. He had oddly blessed my time in each store. I felt a strange sense of peace about the trip after that. I feel like I can actually look forward to going without the heaviness that had been there. It all ties in with the previous verses at the beginning of the post. He had provided for me the clothes I needed, right down to the footwear...nothing extravagant, just what I needed.
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