what are you investing in?

Tags

cancer, chemotherapy, church, energy, faith, finances, future, giving, giving to God, God, God provides, hope, investing, love, postaday2011, sacrifices, serving, time, tithing

Where do you spend most of your time? Most of your energy? Most of your money? Because I’m currently working two jobs, I probably spend most of my time working. And I think we can all agree that most of our energy is spent getting things done. I’m not sure my list of ‘to-dos’ will ever be finished. And money. Well, for the past five or six months most of our money has been spent on Twizzler’s chemotherapy.

Of all those things I just listed, the only thing that seems worthwhile in the long run is our daughter’s cancer treatment. (Yes, until the day I die, I will forever call my dogs my children.) And if it was up to me, I wouldn’t spend almost nine hours a day working… sometimes fourteen hours if I work both jobs, like today. There are so many other things I would rather spend my time doing. And my energy.. well, I do love the satisfaction that comes with completing a task, but in the grand scheme of things.. none of it really matters.

My time, money and energy aren’t really being invested properly. Yesterday, I talked about how work cannot be the source of our happiness, which you can read about here. And today is somewhat of a follow-up. When we spend our time and money doing things that aren’t worthwhile, why are we even doing them in the first place? So, take a minute and think about your life. What are you investing your time, money and energy in? Are they worthwhile investments?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that we all have some mixed up priorities. God is the manager of all things here on earth. He is the manager of our time and our money. Technically, all of it is on loan to us from God. He gives us enough to live a comfortable lifestyle along with giving back to Him and His kingdom. So, if God promises to provide for our needs, why do we always seem to push the envelope and want more than necessary?

When you look at your time.. how much of it do you spend serving others? When was the last time you volunteered? As Christopher and I were filing our tax returns, we reviewed our volunteer hours and compared them to the previous year. YIKES! Our volunteering went down drastically this past year. And we can give as many excuses we want of how we were busy getting married, buying a house, moving, etc. But, if we were really honest with ourselves.. we had the time and chose to invest it in other places. Are you living a life similar to ours? Always busy or perfectly content doing nothing, but still never finding the time to be a disciple of Christ?

a prayer for you.

Tags

cancer, chemotherapy, compassion, faith, finances, financial peace, future, generosity, God, God's will, K-love radio, postaday2011, prayer, prayer request

I received a very special phone call this morning. K-Love radio called me just to ‘check-in’ and see if I had any prayer requests. I was taken back and didn’t really know how to respond at first. I thought for a minute and then opened up to the lady on the other end of line. I told her about Twizzler and her cancer. And I asked for prayers not only for healing for her, but for financial peace for Christopher and myself. We talked a few minutes about Twizzler’s situation and I could hear her typing in the background. She was literally taking notes. She asked if there was anything else that the pastors and K-Love family could be praying for. I didn’t want to feel needy, but truly felt it on my heart to ask for prayer for my sister. I asked that God’s will be shown to her and that she is able to fully trust Him no matter the plan He has in store. We spoke for a few minutes about my sister and then we wrapped up the conversation. After I got off the phone with her, I thought of a million other things I could have asked for prayer… safety for an upcoming mission trip my church is going on, the health of a relative, God’s will as my parents both end and begin a new journey… the list goes on. But, what got me thinking the most was the generosity and compassion I felt through this wonderful outreach.

Sure, I’ve been asked for prayer requests at Bible studies, from friends, etc. But for a complete stranger to call me up and ask meant so much to me. Their genuine concern for every word I spoke was such a blessing. After paying a mountain of bills this morning, it left me feeling so financially defeated. I know God was at work this morning as the woman called me. It made me realize once again that I don’t have all the answers, but that He does and He will provide for me and my family. It was by no mistake that K-Love called today. God planned that and I’m sure the lady on the phone has no idea what kind of impact she made on my day. What a blessing that radio station continues to be to my life.

a word of thanks.

Tags

blessing, cancer, Citibank, divorce, faith, FETCH a Cure, finances, financial aid, God, Hebrews, money, postaday2011, thankful

After I left work yesterday, I broke the silence. I decided to call FETCH a Cure myself. I couldn’t resist it any longer; I just had to know. I was expecting them to tell me that they hadn’t reached a conclusion yet or that someone would have to give me a call later. Instead, I got the answers I so longed to hear.

They had reached a decision. The board had decided to grant us roughly $900 to put towards Twizzler’s treatment. First reaction, I’ll be honest..it wasn’t an overjoyed one. While I knew the likelihood of us getting a great deal from the organization was going to be slim, I had high hopes. When I had talked to the oncologist earlier, she made it seem like we were going to be getting a ton of money. And when I heard the exact amount, let’s just say I was a little less than thrilled. $900 in the grand scheme of things is not very much. However, after letting it sink in, I have a much different response.

Without that organization, we would still be paying that extra $900. That money is truly a gift from God and will definitely be a blessing to our family. I know God won’t give us anything we can’t handle and Chris and I are prepared to make whatever sacrifices necessary to provide Twizzler’s treatment. I guess I wanted it to be easy. I wanted it all to be handed to me. How selfish, huh? But now I realize what a blessing each dollar of that gift is. Chris will pick up a part-time job just like he did last summer when I got laid off from my job. I will continue working at my part-time job, but just pick up more hours. No, life won’t be easy and a lot of sacrifices will have to be made… but…whoever said life was supposed to be easy? A little financial struggle won’t break us, that’s for sure.

When we were going through our marriage counseling with our pastor, he told us that finances are one of the main reasons couples fight. Money is the leading cause for divorce. According to a survey done by Citibank, 57% of divorced couples cited financial problems as the primary reason for the demise of their marriage. Isn’t that sad? Thankfully, Chris and I are on the same page and we both have a faith in Christ that will pull us through anything. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'” As believers, this powerful promise assures us that God is sufficient for all our needs. In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us that we can love money or we can love God, but we cannot love both. We can either depend on earthly treasures to supply our needs, or we can depend on God to supply, but we cannot trust both.

I know He will never leave us and will help us see this through to the end. Our God has never forsaken us before and has always proved to provide, so why doubt Him now? I’m so thankful that I believe in such a powerful and merciful God!