Reason #539

Another planner post. A post about how I am always thinking through things and trying to come up with solutions on how to cross a bridge long before I ever even come to that bridge. I don’t know that all planners are planners in every aspect of life, but I am. And when it comes to finances, I have plans for that, too.

 

Debt. The 4 little word that brings instant gratification and makes us happy only to leave us hurting, entangled, and heavy burdened in the end. A 4 letter word that causes so much stress after the fact. Because who doesn’t love getting new things, especially big things? Put it on the card, take out a loan, and then before we realize it, we’re in over our heads and the way out seems daunting. I see this working in the bank all the time. We forget that we have debt, because it’s disguised in a card or loan, and we spend as if our pockets are deep. Then, the payment is due and we have to make a choice. We only think we own our things, when in reality, those things own us.

 

Aaron and I are living the American dream just like everyone else we know. We have a home and two cars. We like to buy stuff, eat out, go to the movies, and take vacations. When we got married, we had a lot of financial discussions. After all, sharing money with someone is a big deal. They can help make or break you, and I’ll be darned if it’s the latter. Remember, I’m the penny pincher. The girl who thinks in dollar signs and stresses out about paying full price for anything. Fortunately, my parents made a wise investment so I was able to graduate college without any loans, however, it didn’t take me long to start “building my credit.” A house and car later, and I had become a full fledged adult. And when we got married, everything doubled. We also had a wedding and honeymoon on our tab, and so it was time to come up with a plan. I don’t think short term so my plan was long term, yet we had one little thorn in our side that was messing that plan up.

 

Aaron bought a car right before we met. Unfortunately, the dealership’s best practice was not honesty, and the car ended up spending more time in the shop than on the road. When got back from our honeymoon and decided it was time to take the car elsewhere since it was requiring monthly trips to said shop. No one could ever tell us what the problem was, so we figured we’d get a second opinion. That second opinion cost us $1000. We felt like our best option was to take the hit and just get it completely fixed. A few weeks later, the car was hardly running. Back to the shop where the entire engine was disassembled and diagnosis looked grim. And for the past few weeks, we’ve been waiting and waiting for an answer. Hoping that, for once, the insurance would actually come through and cover this mess, and we’ve been keeping our fingers crossed that we’d get a fully functioning car without having to sell a kidney for it.

 

I was driving to work the other morning thinking about this situation. Really, there was no good way around it. The best outcome would be that the insurance would see that there is, in fact, a huge problem with this car and take care of it. The worst outcome was that we would be depleting our savings account to cover the work done at the shop only to take home a car that would, no doubt, be back in that shop within weeks. And I became frustrated because I didn’t want to spend another dime on this car. I didn’t want to be in the red, either. Because I’ve got plans for us. Plans for trips, plans to be totally and completely debt free (minus our house) before we start adding little people to the equation, and plans to be the kind of mom I really desire to be once those little people come along.

 

Well, I realized I just needed to pray about and was kind of disappointed that I hadn’t come to that conclusion in the first place. Honestly, I felt a little funny praying, “Dear Lord, please let the insurance company cover the cost of a new engine so we don’t have to.” And I realized that this was not really the prayer to pray. Because this was another opportunity to trust God. To ask Him to provide no matter what was going to happen – insurance coverage or not. So that’s exactly what I did. And it was amazing the peace that came over me the moment I said those words and realized that God would continue to provide and meet our needs no matter what.

 

Aaron got a call from the shop today, and the insurance company decided that the car does need a new engine. A new engine that they will pay for. Thank you, Lord! Sometimes I feel funny praying about material things. After all, scripture tells us not to store up our treasures on earth. But God had given us everything we have. It hasn’t shown up at our front door, but He has blessed us with good health so that we can work, and He has given us jobs in a less than stable economy. And I fully believe that when we are good stewards of what God has blessed us with, He will honor that. It may not necessarily mean you get more, bigger, or better things. But I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and I know that God will provide for us if we are wise with what we’ve got.

 

And so I praise the Lord for taking care of us, and for providing a way to fix our car so that we aren’t out even more money than we thought. I praise Him for knowing our needs, and meeting them. And most of all, I praise Him for seeing our hearts’ desires and blessing our efforts.

 

#539 - For a God who honors and blesses our efforts by providing to meet our needs rather than increasing our burdens.

 

"And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others." - 2 Corinthians 9:8