(originally posted on my blog at the original groupee.com social networking site.)
when i set out to celebrate lent, it was to sacrifice something that might give me a greater understanding of Jesus' 40-day fasting experience in the wilderness, to prepare my heart for the Good News of Easter, to celebrate life after death.
what i didn't know was that lent would be a life-changing period of time for me.
when i felt prompted to give up eating out, i thought at first that it was just me thinking, that it was too hard, that i couldn't do it, that matt wouldn't agree to it. but i couldn't really let go of the idea. matt was opposed at first, but then had a change of heart. together, we agreed to sacrifice eating out. Jesus spoke of cutting off the appendage that causes you to sin, and that was what we were doing, as eating out has always been an area of sin for us - 1. leading to gluttony, 2. a poor use of our resources.
so we wanted to take better care of our temples (bodies) and be better stewards of our finances.
we noticed the financial savings almost immediately. balancing the checkbook was easier to do, because there were substantially fewer receipts. what we didn't realize was that God was actually preparing us to live within our means in such a fashion that our means would lessen, and we would still continue to live comfortably within them.
then there was turmoil at the church. financial crisis happened, my paycheck - which i should've received the day before lent began - was held a week, and the church was facing a $20,000 deficit. giving was down 25% and expenses were up. i knew that our elders had decided to perform our annual reviews (instead of just Don) this year, so as to make sure we were in the "leanest, meanest shape" we could be in when we move to the campus, this fall. i knew some things in the office were inefficient. i reminded Don that i was willing to do office work.
then the Spirit told me "march 1st". i didn't really understand what that meant. was it just my own selfishness wanting to get out of Groupee before we packed up and moved locations in march? or was God telling me something. i prayed. i pondered. i asked for clarification. He said "get your affairs in order". so i started tying up loose ends, not really knowing what else might happen.
on february 10th - 4 days after lent began - Don asked for my resume. i emailed it to him, and asked a week later for an update. he worked very hard to play things down, so i would not get my hopes up. i was told there was a 60% chance that they'd be making changes, and a 50% chance that it would even be me that they hired. but a week and a half later, he asked me to meet with him so he could make me an offer.
the church has nearly matched my salary at groupee - more than i expected. however, my overall take-home pay will still be less, as i will be losing the extra $525/month from the church to which we've grown accustomed. but through this lenten season, i have seen that we are capable of living within lesser means that we currently do. we trusted God in the big things, and we will trust Him in the little things too.
God's blessing, of course, didn't stop there. one of our biggest concerns was finding a second car, now that we'd be driving opposite directions to get to our respective workplaces. saturday, we stopped by the bank to talk about loan options, then did a little car shopping, knowing we were shooting for $6k. we didn't find anything we loved, but got a good idea of what we wanted. sunday, matt found his dream truck online in marysville. new enough that the bank would finance it, 83k miles, and only $6k. i felt in my heart that *this* was the truck we would buy. we decided we could run up and look at it that afternoon, so we scrambled to get driving directions and such online. first the internet connection wouldn't work, then the computer froze, then the connection wouldn't work again. had we not encountered these problems, we'd have been out the door 20 minutes earlier.
then my dad called. he told me that grama & marv were planning to sell their 3rd car, and they wanted to sell it to us for $1. all at once, i realized how God was providing for us, and how those earlier circumstances that seemed to delay us only prevented us from making the wrong decision. we had trusted God in the big things, He came through. we trusted Him in the littler things, He came through.
matt was understandably disappointed that he wouldn't be getting a truck right away, but knowing that the buick was God's provision, i persisted. this car will allow us to take our time getting a truck, make sure we get the right one, and hold out for exactly what he wants.
my two biggest concerns - my job and the need for a second vehicle - were taken care of, just like *that*. "all things work together for the good of those who love Him." this verse is usually applied to unfortunate situations, to show the silver lining, that God is working. but today, i see this as God allowing difficult circumstances to be a positive change in my life.
before lent is over, i will be starting a new job, driving a new car, and focusing all of my life on a mission that my heart has been in for the last 14 months. part of me wonders if any of this would have happened if we hadn't chosen to sacrifice something so dear to us for lent. only God knows.
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