Breaking Through

Just a quick update to say "Praise God!"  We made it through this month!  We are very thankful and are looking forward to this next month.  With the bulk of the company's income coming in over the next two months and with our upcoming tax return, we are praying that we will be good stewards of the money that God gives us.  We are praying for wisdom to make good choices on what, how, and when to spend money: a few repairs we've been holding off on, a car to replace the one that was totaled so that we can give Kevin's grandparents their car back, paying off some debts, etc.  It feels really good to be in a place where we can make these choices, so now it's just making sure we are doing it wisely: God's way and not ours. :)

Here are some lyrics to Toby Mac's song "Hold On" that have been in my head tonight:

So baby hold on, to the one that's holding you,
I see the clouds are moving faster now, and the sun is breaking through!

[Note: I just looked up the lyrics and it looks like I combined in my head the first part of one verse with the second part of the next verse, but oh well!  I like it this way so I'm gonna' keep it!]

"Lean Not on Your Own Understanding..."

This has been a tough year for us financially.  With adopting Maria and school budgets being really tight, both Kevin and I have had to get part-time jobs outside of the business.  We both have found places that fit us really well, and we are really enjoying all that we are learning and doing.  I work at an independent children's store that is focused on natural parenting and toys, and Kevin works at a neurofeedback company.  Kevin is still visiting schools, but he hasn't had many this fall and winter.  We've maxed out our business line-of-credit and are now just trying to get through until the last week of February.  From then on through summer Kevin has steady work lined up.  (Yeah!)  But last week his sister came in to do our accounting and we all wondered: how are we going to make it until then?  Bills still have to be paid, etc., and we simply do not have any more money in the company.  She told us not to pay anything this week or buy anything this week and she'd come back today.  Kevin has not seemed worried this week about this, but I kept thinking: I know it's only three weeks, but seriously, how are we actually going to make it through? 

So then Lori came back today and she and Kevin worked in the office for a few hours.  As I was cleaning up the house, at one point I thought about how our extended family has and is struggling so much with health-related issues and how we've felt badly at times over the years that we aren't.  But I realized that although we aren't struggling health-wise, we have struggled over the years and are currently struggling financially.  And I wondered how long we'd be doing this.  But then I thought/prayed, God, if this is what it takes to keep us close to you, to keep us hanging on to you and not feel self-sufficient, even though it's hard, I'll welcome it and thank you for it.

When Lori came up to say good bye some while later, she said that we're okay for another week!  Money came from out of who-knows-where, but we are okay for now!  Praise the Lord!  A few sales of books, a check we didn't expect, a school who paid that owed us some money all added up to what we needed!  This was a big deal, yet after thanking God silently, I went on with my busy day and have kept busy up until right now (midnight).  I finally sat down and read my devotional for today and this is what it said:

"Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people."  - I Chronicles 16:8

So that's what I'm doing!

God is our Provider and I am so thankful for who He is!