Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Staying positive Situation #2

WHEN THERE IS NO $$$$$


This one is a bit tricky. Because there are 2 sides to it. One is the way I was taught to think and the other is the way feel sometimes. I (like many of you) have been taught to be thankful for what I do have. How many times have you heard, " There are people far worse off than you"? Or if you have ever been on a mission trip and had the opportunity to work with the "less fortunate". If so, then it is easy to feel guilty when money becomes tight or money goes away all together.
Even though most of us have been taught about the perspective that we are SUPPOSED to have....it is hard when you are in the midst of trial. It is hard to see past your own nose. Right now our lives are a little crazy financially. We are forced to live in Hubby's parent home (that they used to live in) because we are trying to sell our house. We must live here because we simply can not afford 2 mortgage payments. When hubby resigned from his job a couple of months ago, we knew that things would be tough for a little while. But we expected to sell our home and move on. For what ever reason God is not allowing that to happen. Our house is not selling, hubby hasn't found a job yet, and our $$$ is quickly running out. Now we are facing foreclosure on our home and/or possibly bankruptcy. All of this... because we choose to leave our church. With hope of giving some financial relief to them. Our pastor wasn't being paid and the other staff member was facing pay cuts as well. We chose to leave in order to allow them to be paid. We chose to leave because we knew that they couldn't (because it is their home town).
SO back to the point..... we are in these financial hardships for a number of reasons. But mainly because we wanted to do the right thing. Being angry at God comes to mind sometimes. Being confused happens alot. But staying positive is a work in progress. It is a daily choice. And I will be honest... it is not always the choice that I make.
There is a book called FISH that I had to read once and I took one major point to heart and now teach it OFTEN to my children. Choose your attitude.
Life may suck (alot) but it is up to you how you chose to view it. It is up to you how you respond to it. And it is up to you how yo let it effect you.
I must trust that God sees all and knows all. I must trust that He is marking my steps out before me and that his purpose is perfectly designed to fit into this wonderful story He is telling. Yes, living paycheck to paycheck is hard, but doing it without Christ would be even harder. That is how I stay positive.

2 comments:

ocean mommy said...

Seems like you all are taking a graduate level course in walking by faith.

I read Habakkuk 3 this morning. Yes, Habakkuk. Not the normal place for me to land, but it's where God took me... It was so cool and spoke to me in our situations right now. Go read the whole chapter, but especially verses 1-2 and then verses 17-19 which say: " Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation."

Praying that God will give you and Steven wisdom, discernment and the strength to do what He tells you to do...regardless of what anyone else suggets to you!

Hang in there, we love you.
steph.

brenna said...

My mom likes to read your blog to keep up with what's going on. She called yesterday when she read this and wants you to know she is also praying for you. I'm sure you've heard this and I know you know it but I'm sure it's hard to believe it right now - God is never late. Apparantly, while my mom was pregnant with me my dad lost his job and they were running out of money fast and stressing b/c I was going to arrive any day. They had enough money for one more mortgage payment and then they were totally broke and right before the payment was due, my dad got this awesome job for the government. So she said, God wasn't early by any means but He wasn't late.

For some unknown reason to us, He is putting you through this crap. He will bring relief in His time. Just keep trusting.

(All of this said, I would be feeling exactly the way you are if we were in your position. So I know it's easier to say it when we're not there. We love you and you're always in our prayers!!!)