Financials

I guess I know now what it feels like to have writer's block. I didn't intend on being this long between posts, but here I am. It was my plan that this post would be about our financial situation and the struggles we have faced. But, every time I tried, what I wrote sounded like I was feeling sorry for myself. I also didn't want to reveal any really private information and it has been hard to approach this subject without doing so.

It goes without saying, when one goes from "working" to "not working", money no longer comes in. I was able to file for unemployment, but the amount I received was minuscule at best. On the subject of unemployment, I'll have to admit that I really had a hard time with it. I guess it comes down to pride because I felt that I was being given a handout. I firmly believe that if one is able to work, then one must work and I wanted to work! Oh well, the unemployment program is there for a reason, and I had paid in to it, so I had to get over my guilt. Besides, like I said, it was not enough to feel guilty about anyway.

I'll say that Kim and I had done a pretty good job of handling our finances. We had saved and put away where we could, so we had money to take care of our obligations in the beginning. We found out though, it goes out much faster than it comes in. It was an obvious fact that we had taken for granted just how much it costs just to live each day. We quickly learned that we had to be more frugal and had to cut out many of the luxuries upon which we had become accustomed. We did not (and do not) live an extravagant, carefree lifestyle, but little things like going out to eat lunch after church on Sunday had to be set aside. To this day, we still do not go out to eat after church, but there is a plus side. The time we now spend together preparing a Sunday afternoon meal has become cherished time. Where once we might have gone out to a movie, we now stay home and play a board game or work a puzzle or go for a walk. This gives us the opportunity to talk to one another and these opportunities mean a great deal to me.

Well, I think I have done a good job skating around the given subject of finances, other than state the obvious, so I'll get to the real meat of what I want to say. A few weeks ago, Jimmy Stewart, our Pastor at First Baptist Church Olive Branch gave a message on Matthew 25: 14 - 30. This was Jesus "Parable of the Talents" The story tells of a man about to go on a trip. Before he was to leave, he brought in three individuals that worked for him. He gave each of them a number of "talents"; a talent is a sum of money. He wanted each of them to invest the money on his behalf while he was gone. He gave each individual an amount based on each of their abilities. He gave the first, five talents, the second, two talents and the third, one talent. The two individuals that received the five talents and the two talents immediately went to work with money. Each of them, in time, had doubled their master's money. However, the third individual was afraid of the punishment he would receive if he lost the money so he hid it away. Upon returning from his trip, the master called the individuals in to make account of his money. The first two showed where they had worked hard and doubled the five talents into ten and the two talents into four. The master praised the two for their efforts and invited them to celebrate with him for what they had done. He even rewarded them by increasing their responsibilities because they had shown that they could handle it. But, the third individual when he explained that he was afraid of the punishment he would receive if he lost the money, was in fact punished. The master called him evil and lazy because instead of hiding the money, he could have at the very least put the money in the bank where it would have earned interest. So the third individual was banished.

Jesus point to this parable is simple; what is expected of us is relative to what we have been given. Each individual in this story was given an amount based on their known ability and on the expected return.

This message spoke deeply to me on a couple of different levels. First, one might think that maybe God was punishing me by losing my job because maybe I did not put forth the effort that I should have. So, that responsibility was taken from me. Personally, I don't think this was the case. Although this sounds prideful on my part, I firmly believe that it is God's way of preparing us for what He has planned for us. He is not using this to test our faith, but as a mean to help our faith in Him grow. Like those in the parable given the talents, are we going to continue to do the best we can with what we are given or are we going to hide it away in fear of what might happen. Secondly, this message spoke to me by revealing that I had become like the individual given the one talent. Even though I was outwardly saying, "God I have faith that You will see us through this, so I will continue to do what is expected of me", inwardly I was still holding on and trying to figure out how I was going to fix things myself. In other words, I was giving it over to God, but not letting go. The first evidence of this was in our offering to the church. We never stopped giving, but we were not being faithful in the amount we were giving. As a result, the joy that comes from being a faithful giver was gone. So, Kim and I made the decision that we must get back to doing what we knew was right in the area of giving and trust that God will provide. He HAS provided and the joy and inner peace has returned as a result. So, like the individuals given the five talents and the two talents, we are celebrating this victory. We look forward to what God has in store for us.

In the area of finances, the best advice I can give is the same advice that our parents gave which is, "Save for a rainy day." But, I will take it a step further and say, "Save for a thunder storm", because the storms can, and will be much worse than we can imagine. Even better advice I can give is do the best with what you have been given and trust that God will provide. Then celebrate the results.