Warning: Naked & Unfunny

Here's the very "unglamourous", weak human side to being open to God pouring out blessings and He does and you have 9 children on one income...

Financially, things have never been more difficult to manage in our 20 years of marriage. The only "good" news is that our mortgage is our only debt and we live on a cash basis without credit cards. That is a system we are pretty comfortable with when we have an "emergency" savings account. Unfortunately we are in one of those phases where the emergency fund is gone. And the problem now is the amount of money coming in and the basics of mortgage, food, utilities, insurance, prescriptions and gas is only a couple hundred dollars a month different. That means less than $400 a month for 11 people to go to the doctor, buy clothes/shoes, car repairs/maintance, fix things that break around the house, birthdays, Christmas, gifts or cards for extended family and friends, school curriculum, field trips, charitable giving, photo developing, household goods, pool chemicals, eating out or concerts or family outings, or camp or church activities, hair styling, dentist co pays, vacation, etc. You get the picture.

No, it doesn't begin to spread far enough to cover what seems like "basic needs". And it can be really nail biting when an emergency arises that requires money to fix it.

I really don't want to sound complaining but rather concerned. That's what I've taken to God the past year--"How are we supposed to manage like this? Please help us increase our income."

We have muddled through and somehow we are hobbling along. Our older kids/teens are used to being "the poor kids" at church or in social situations but this is a little beyond that. I am thankful at how good their attitudes are and how supportive they are when they have to wait for things on the grocery list or shoes or clothes. In the past week when I've apologized for that, 2 different kids have said, "It's okay. We have what is really important." or something encouraging like that.

We also have had people generously give us hand-me-downs of clothes and furniture and household goods. We have had gifts of money here and there. We have had unique opportunities to get free food or products. We use coupons and discount days and comparison shop for everything from milk to computer printers. We live with mounting broken stuff and house and cars needing repairs and delays in buying basic stuff and find a new way to dry clothes or get drinking water or reuse stuff or buy it used or get from place to place.

I'm thankful for the fact that we've "made it this far".

I am also tired of the struggle and waiting in faith for it all.

And I still ask for it to get a whole lot easier.

I've been especially preoccupied and persistent in asking God for relief from financial stress this past week.

Guess what the daily Scriptures have been that are delivered to my email box for the past few days?

Thursday 9/4/2008

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

~ Matthew 6:33, NLT

Wednesday 9/3/2008

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life...

~ 2 Peter 1:3, NLT

Sunday 8/31/2008

Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."

~ Hebrews 13:5, NLT

Hmm. I guess it's time to stop whining and just trust Him for stuff. And focus even more on that being thankful and giving Him credit part.

Okay...