Beyond Blessed!

I am beyond thankful today for a God that continues to show me how much He loves me and that He will provide for us and Baby. I wrote a blog the other week about our financial situation. The timing of those checks was not coincidental, that was all Him! Because of that we were able to buy Baby's crib and dresser and also pay my car property taxes. That left a small amount in our savings account that I figured I would slowly build back up between now and Baby's arrival. After lunch today my boss called me into his office and explained that when we have a great year as a company he likes to reward us for our hard work. Just knowing he appreciates us is more than enough but he handed me a folded up piece of paper. I opened it to find the bonus amount that I will receive next week. I was floored at the amount! It was much more than I was expecting and more than we had in our savings to begin with! I am still so overwhelmed with how great my God is and so thankful to have found such an amazing group of people to work with. I'm not sure if these reward checks were given out last year and I may have been too new to receive anything. I was so surprised when my boss gave us a bonus! I'm just in awe right now. These recent checks are not coincidental and are definitely God's way of showing me that He will always provide for our needs. I am SO incredibly thankful!!

Lesson in Faith & Trust

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Over the past several months I have learned to keep my faith in God because He has a greater plan for me and He will always provide what we need. While I do have faith and trust in Him, it's still hard for me not to worry some when I see a very small amount in our savings account and our checking has no wiggle room after paying bills knowing that some major payments are due soon. The property taxes on my car are due the end of December and it's rather high since my car is fairly new and I started to worry how that was going to be paid. We didn't have enough in our savings to cover it and I knew there's no extra money after paying bills to transfer any money from our checking. Plus, with a baby on the way, I've been trying to get good deals on baby items that I know we'll need and stock up now so it's not overwhelming later when I realize the baby is almost here and nothing's ready. lol. I was very blessed the other week when a Facebook friend offered to sell me her crib & matching dresser. It was the exact color I was wanting, in perfect condition, and it was a 3-in-1 which I definitely wanted. I wasn't sure how long she'd hold onto these items before wanting to sell them to someone else so I was hoping to buy them soon, but once again I worried how we were going to pay for it. We don't have the money to even pay my car taxes, how on Earth were we going to be able to buy the baby furniture? Not to mention we're traveling to Indiana for the holidays and that 11 hour trip (one-way) isn't cheap! I had faith that things would work out, but struggled with trusting God that the finances would be there.

In the past week God has proven, once again, that I need to stop worrying and fully trust Him. Four times actually He showed me, two were big, overwhelming examples. He first showed me when we received our bi-annual safe driver check from Allstate. We get these twice a year and they're around $35. It's not much but it definitely helps. I immediately put it in our savings. The next day or so I get a check from Scott's old apartment complex with our deposit amount of $65. I knew this was coming but didn't know when and it was definite perfect timing! This went straight into savings. I was starting to have some relief since I knew we could now pay my taxes. The first big example was while I was paying bills. My car payment is due the 22nd of every month. My original 3-year financed agreement ended 10/22/13 so the remaining balance was being refinanced. And for those that don't know, when you refinance anything you generally get to skip a payment month. I wasn't sure if that was the case this time. I received my new finance agreement via mail to sign and it said my next payment date was 12/22/13 but I wanted to double check with their website when it came time to make the payment for 11/22/13. I checked the site, and no payment! That's $300 right there that we could save that month, so of course I put it in savings. That was my first big "ah ha" moment. The second time was today. Every year my company gives us a Christmas bonus if they've had a great year. Last year I was fairly new so I didn't get the full amount and when I received the envelope with my bonus today, I wasn't sure how much a bonus would be. I opened it to see $200! Thank you Lord!

I really don't understand why I worry when He proves to me time and time again that He'll take care of me. Our finances have always been the hardest thing for me to let go of. My husband and I struggled financially the first year or 2 of marriage, which is probably why it's so hard for me. We battled lots of identity theft, speeding tickets that were never sent to us, my husband got out of the army and struggled to keep a job in the civilian world and I was a college student so we had to live off of his army pay and our savings once he got out. I am so thankful for how God grew and strengthened us as a couple and so thankful that we have been financially stable (for the most part) ever since. I guess this is a continual lesson I'll have to learn, but I hope one day I can truly put all of my worries, doubts, & cares on His shoulders so I can live stress-free and worry-free. None of these are purely coincidence. This is all God's doing and He always has perfect timing. :) I am feeling very thankful and blessed.

When My Happy Gets Bumped

I subscribed several months ago to receive the daily devotion from Proverbs 31 Ministries. Today's was entitled "When My Happy Gets Bumped". (Click the title if you'd like to read the devotion.) I love when the devotion speaks straight to my heart. This one was perfect timing. Like most girls, I do have a habit of getting very upset over such small, stupid issues. I'm aware of the problem and have been working on it, even my husband has noticed. Yesterday we had one of our small fights that got out of hand rather quickly. One of the biggest issues in our marriage is communication. I'm very open about my thoughts & feelings; my husband not so much. In the past he's said he'll work on it, but nothing changes. Yesterday was one of those days. I was very upset about something and needed to talk it through with him but couldn't because 1) I was at work and don't like to discuss personal matters where others can hear and 2) he was also out to lunch with some fellow soldiers, but I didn't know this at the time. Because he was around people & knows I don't like either of us to discuss personal matters in public, he wasn't able to call me nor was he answering my texts. This went on for about an hour. With each passing minute I was getting more & more upset and hurt. I started thinking he was ignoring me and didn't care about how I was feeling. (I know now that wasn't true.) My happy was bumped for the remaining few hours I was at work.

After work I called him to explain how I was feeling & he actually opened up and shared his own thoughts & feelings. I was so happy and thankful! I still am just thinking about it. That was a HUGE step for my husband. He's used to keeping everything in because that's how he was raised & the type of environment he was in. So this was huge for him. I thanked him for opening up and told him how much I appreciated it. It made me so happy. I love when we have productive arguments and conversations. It gives me so much hope for our future. I woke up this morning still thankful for that conversation, so of course I called him. haha. His primary love language is Words of Affirmation and I try to tell him positive things as much as possible. I literally feel like my "cup runneth over". I know it sounds silly, but I'm so content and thankful right now for the people God has placed in my life. I have such amazing, uplifting, & encouraging friends and a loving, caring husband. I'm very blessed. ♥