Lessons in Life

A little wordy but I hope you enjoy the lesson I've learned.

I was getting my Hots Tots lesson prepared the other day & read a few verses in my Bible to help me. The teacher's guide gives a few verses that apply to the lesson to help with preperation. The story was about the widowed lady who had two boys & needed money. She went to the prophet Elisha who told her to borrow many empty jars from her neighbors & friends. She was to go home & shut the door & fill all those jars with the oil from her little jar. Which she did by the grace of God. Honestly I've heard this story & read these verses but since Alice's Sunday School lesson the week before & Pastor Hake's sermon the other day were also about this same story, these verses hit me a little different then they ever did before.

Philippians 4:11-13{KJV}: 

{11}Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. {12}I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. {13}I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

We have{as well as many others I'm sure} been struggling some financially. Maybe not as bad as some, Richard still has his job & I am still able to stay at home with our children, but nevertheless we can't always get the things we want or even sometimes the things we need. Lately I have been getting very upset by that. I've gotten so used to being able to just spend & not worry about whether we have enough or not. But when I read these verses I felt a tug at my heart. It made me remember something God did for us & I wanted to share that with you.

Our Story of Need:

When Richard & I were married, it wasn't exactly how we had planned. We had a courthouse wedding. Yes we choose to get married that way{& we don't regret our decision}, but I always dreamed of a big outdoor wedding, which we were planning on having. We were going to pay for it with the bonus Richard was getting from enlisting with the National Guard in 2004. Well anyone who knows the military knows they procrastinate with many things, his bonus was one of them.

In Nov. of 2006 Richard lost his job. We knew it was coming & he was searching for a new one but with no luck. He was still working with the NG one weekend a month which was about $200 a paycheck{once a month}. There was still no sign of the bonus he was promised two years before. We were living in a one bedroom apartment when our little girl Emily was born that same month. Richard was unable to find a job for seven months. Yes we were struggling in a way, & by that I mean we had to learn that we couldn't always do the things we wanted to do. 

During those seven months we were able to move into a two-bedroom apartment, pay all our bills{with very few going late} & have food on the table. In April of 2007 Richard finally recieved that 15 hundred dollar bonus he was promised{back in 2004}. We were able to use that to survive until he was finally able to find a job that June. 

Richard & I often think back on that & realize how much God was there for us through that time, & how He provided us with that bonus in the time we needed it the most. God wanted us to rely on Him & trust that He would take care of us no matter what. It took a little bit of time for us to realize that during our struggles but I know that we are both closer to God because of it. 

Those verses the other day helped me to remember that time & all the times I had so little but I had all I needed. I know God will take care of us through this time of struggle as well. All we have to do is pray & trust in God & He will give us all we need & sometimes even things we want. A lesson in life that is worth learning in so many ways.

Our Story of Want:

Richard had always wanted a big screen tv. He had a certain one picked out & everything. Last summer Richard was 'tv shopping'. He was wanting to settle for a tv that he didn't really want & we couldn't exactly afford. He was very upset when we left that store without a tv. We both decided to pray{neither one knowing the other was praying} that Richard would be content with what we had. The very next day Richard saw an ad{which he never looks at} for the exact tv he wanted at half the price. So we went to take a look at it. When we got there we found out that it was even cheaper than the ad said so we bought it. It feels silly sometimes thanking God for things that we don't need but God is the reason we were able to buy that tv.