cold, hard numbers

Nothing quite like doing finances to give oneself a dose of reality-- kind of like a slap (or two) in the face.

That's what I did last week. After sorting through receipts and bills for the past few months, I came face to face with the cold, hard numbers that we were spending more than we were making.

Granted, it included large expenses such as traveling overseas to my grandfather's funeral and my husband's college tuition. But with this being just the beginning of his academic pursuits and with a baby on the way, my mind began to spin, wondering how long it would be before we exhaust our savings going down this road.

This morning, our pastor preached on the story of Abraham offering Isaac to the Lord (Genesis 22). I don't know how many times I've read this story, but this time I was faced with a cold, hard number of a different kind. Abraham had one son-- that one represented the culmination of everything God had promised him and everything God had given him in life. God also has one Son-- and He gave up that Son for a world that still can't comprehend His sacrifice.

It doesn't make sense for my husband to be pursuing another degree on a lower salary while we're preparing to have a baby... but it didn't make sense for Abraham to offer Isaac as an offering to God either. We know God led my husband back to school, and we know that this child is a gift from Him. I don't know how we'll pay for it all, but I can still learn to be supportive (and thrifty) now.

And someday, I'll look back and see how God took care of those cold, hard numbers one day at a time.
_____________________

"The dearest I have known, whate'er that may be
Help me to tear it from Thy throne and worship only Thee."
-- William Cooper

back in the saddle... soon

I sent my husband off to university for the first time this week. When I asked him how it went, he replied, "Not too intensive, actually." That was before his metaphysics class and before he had to stay up till 3:45 AM finishing the assignments he missed while we were out-of-town.

We're back after two very full months away-- my sister's wedding in New York; a summer conference for international students in Oklahoma, Michigan, and Chicago; a family vacation in Montana, and my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan. This week, we're enjoying our unemployment status as a much-needed break from the hectic pace of the summer.

Next week, in addition to classes, my husband returns to work and I will as well. Our exchange student has decided not to return to the US, so I'll be shipping or selling his belongings and figuring out how to set up the baby room. But that can wait till next week. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the break while it lasts.