Counting Blessings

Today I am thankful. I guess I was too busy on Thanksgiving keeping 3 kids in line away from home. But today I have time to reflect.

What I forgot to mention in my "black friday" blog was that we saved $400. That very same day we were about to buy laptops online, slightly downgraded versions even at a much higher price.

It always amazes me the little ways in which God has come through for us with our finances. The other week we decided to finally get the water pump/timing belt fixed on our Honda, figuring it was long overdue. We had gotten more insurance money from the birth that we weren't expecting. Then we found out the mechanic couldn't fix it because he couldn't get a bolt off! A couple days ago I had the idea to call a guy from church who works on Hondas to get his opinion. He said he WOULD be able to get the bolt off, and looked at it for free and said we didn't even need to get the job done for another 30,000 miles! A savings of $700. The stubborn bolt was a blessing in disguise. As tight as things have been the last few years we've always been okay, and there have been so many times like this where there seems to be no way and He continues to make a way. And we live more than comfortably at such a young age!

I truly believe God has blessed us for always putting him first in our finances. I am thankful to my dad for raising me with the commitment to give that first ten percent. I expect that would be difficult to learn as an adult! I also believe the last couple years God has blessed our decision to change the way we eat. Groceries got quite a bit more expensive when we decided to only purchase foods that God created for us to eat, and that was not in the budget when we purchased our new home. I am working less too. Yet here we are, and we're okay. More than okay. A huge grocery bill but no medical copays! Saving money by switching to high deductible insurance helped us out too. More money on health-promoting supplements to replace the lacking nutrients in our modern-day overprocessed diets, less money on insurance, it all just works. He even provided for us way back when I was a baby, when my grandfather purchased a whole life policy for me that we can now save as our deductible in case of medical emergencies.

We should never make commitments to God either financially or with our health because we are expecting something in return. But it's truly amazing to reflect back on how God uses these gifts and talents he's given us to enrich the lives of those around us, and even our own.