Home >> raining and pouring!
December 14, 2007
In the past three weeks our drier died (ching-ching), the garage door spring snapped (ching-ching), we had to have new brakes put on the van (CHING-CHING!!), the muffler on Paul’s car broke and the windshield cracked the whole way acro$$! To top it off, the burgeoning weight of health insurance squeezes the life out of us at $800/month. Just imagine the math! Oh Lord….
Now I’m juggling money in our accounts so I can go pay the mortgage at the last possible moment before the late charge takes effect. Yesterday I had to make a dreaded call to a client to chase down a check….not fun. We work so hard and never seem to get ahead. These are the days when I say we should just go live in an itty-bitty condo.
Pressure, pressure, pressure!
So, what am I thankful for?
1. Life! Life beyond what we live through every day and the hope of things to come
2. Prayer…because God does answer
3. Our absolutely beautiful children
4. I’m SO happy that Nathan will not need heart surgery…a miracle
5. I’m endlessly grateful for friends, family and wonderful neighbors who are friends
6. Magic little hugs from Nathan
7. Amazing drawings and sculpture from Miika
8. That Nathan is learning sign language…over 50 signs now!
9. Unexpected checks in the mail at the absolute perfect moment: a surprise commission from a referral, a usage fee for a reprint of one of my old illustrations, Christmas money instead of presents, a Target gift card for $350…God does know our needs and pays our bills! YAY!
10. A warm house
11. Food on the table
12. Christmas time and the gift of Life and Hope that Jesus offers to all
There may not be tons of presents under the tree and we may not be able to be as materialistically generous this year as in the past, but perhaps this will help us focus on the real reason for Christmas.
I just have to say one more thing… God has ALWAYS supplied our needs. I could write a book about the times in my life when the money seemed almost gone and a check would come in the mail from a friend with a note saying that God had impressed them to send it. It’s very humbling. In recent years, I always seem to get tons of work before we have big bills to pay. In turn we’ve had very prosperous years (before kids!) when we have been able to give. My dream is to get back on the giving side…it’s MUCH better to give than to receive.
Miika’s self-portrait done on the kitchen table while I wasn’t looking