a phrase our pastor used years ago still rings in my ears today. "if you will obey, He will be faithful." i don't remember the scripture that day, or even the context. but he repeated the phrase multiple times during the sermon, and it really it home with me.

yesterday, i wrote about a step in faith that my husband and i took in regards to giving God control of our financial life.

today, i have praise to report. since we made the decision to put God in charge of *everything*, including our finances, we've seen numerous blessings. and it's only been two and a half days.

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

we went to the bank saturday morning to apply for a loan to consolidate some of our credit card debt. i was positive they'd deny us - we don't have great credit, and we own nothing that we could use as collateral. they told us they'd call back within an hour.

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

but they didn't. it wasn't until we took our first step in faith, acting in obedience, at church sunday morning, that we received the call to come in and sign our paperwork. the loan was the maximum percentage of our income that they loan out, and that's just enough to cover our higher interest cards at a lower interest rate.

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

weeks ago, i was asked for a layout to be published in a spring edition of a scrapbooking magazine. i should've received the contract earlier, i'm sure, but i didn't. it wasn't until we took our first step in faith, acting in obedience, at church sunday morning, that the contract arrived in the mail {monday}, offering me about 4 times what i'd expected for this project.

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

matt and i have been trying to pay off the little niggly debts - library fines, video store fines, etc, just to get them off our radar. a debt that i should've paid months ago, and didn't, was a rediculously large fine at the library. matt went in yesterday to pay off the bill, and because we took our first step in faith, acting in obedience to God, the woman at the counter had mercy on us and cut the fine in half. in half. she cut $40 off the total. {yeah, yeah, i know. kate, how did you EVER manage those kinds of fines?? don't ask.}

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

and we're not really sure how, but we've paid all of the bills due before payday, and we still have plenty of money left over.

"if you will obey, He will be faithful."

i always planned conservatively when budgeting, because i'm well aware that a budget looks good on paper, and isn't always 100% accurate in real life. but somehow, when God takes over, it's just the opposite. somehow, at the end of the pay period, we're not scraping the bottom of the barrel. we have enough to get by. and then some. we can make an early payment on our loan, or stash the extra in our savings account for an emergency.

it just goes to show: "if you will obey, He will be faithful."