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(Photo for illustrative properties only)

 

I didn’t want to say anything until it was certain, but we have good news.

Remember last week I mentioned a special visitor to our house?  That special visitor was a nice lady I met–a friend of a friend of a friend–who was looking for at-home childcare for her baby.

For the life of this blog, I have told you that we manage our budget just fine, but we aren’t making any headway on paying off the debt because there wasn’t any extra.

I have persued several avenues, but the best bet for our family–for me to be at home, available for homeschooling, budget managing, creative meal planning, and chores–and still making money seemed to be childcare. 

Sure, there were internet options, and a few other things, but I needed something reliable.  I wanted something where I just needed to “show up”,do my job, and get paid; not actively seeking new contacts for making money.  Most internet options are very mind-draining, hands-on, attention-demanding.

In fact, the whole idea of being this focused on making money made me feel uncomfortable.  It seemed wrong to be that concerned with money, to look at every opportunity with dollar signs in my eyes.

I knew the waiting time was for some purpose.  God is usually trying to teach us something when we struggle.  And I learned a lot.  I learned that debt has a powerful impact on your availability to “answer God’s call”.   That’s the thing.  In the process of aquiring debt, we knew it was a dumb thing to do financially.  And somewhere, in the back of our minds, we knew it was not in God’s will, but we didn’t understand why. 

How does paying a credit card balance keep you subject to a different master?  Before we began the journey to get out of debt, we gave as much as we wanted to the church or other good causes.  We just couldn’t pay cash for groceries and gas. It wasn’t until we said, “no more credit cards,” that I realized what a big impact debt has on your life. How, for example, could we give money to orphans, consider adoption or ministry positions, or think about having another baby if we were unable to do without.  Could we even afford for me to homeschool the children, something we feel called to do?

That’s where the childcare comes in.  I’ll use this new income to pay-off debt, set a bit aside to avoid debt in unexpected circumstances, and continue living on our current budget. 

So today I am thankful.  Thankful for the learning period.  Thankful for God’s faithfulness to us through it.  Thankful for our new opportunity and the wonderful family we’re getting to know.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.      Psalm 100:5