Skip to main content

Paycheck To Paycheck

It's a phrase you've either heard before but never experienced, you've been there/done that, or you're there now: living paycheck to paycheck. It's not something many talk about...whether out of pride or just that they know the season will pass.

For us, the financial squeeze came into play in August when we had to pay for both Georgia's then daycare at USDA and start paying tuition for her school at First Baptist School of Laurel. To add to the equation, I took a pay cut to work at AOL with the knowledge that at bonus and raise was in the future. However, instead of end of year, the bonus isn't coming until late February.

God always provides for your needs and even some of your wants. In our 11 years of marriage, Kim and I have never gone without. Maybe we've had to delay paying a bill, stop eating out, "brown bagging" lunch, or holding off on trips...but we've never gone without.

We make sacrifices for our families. For us, sacrificing a couple thousand dollars was worth a job change that has vastly improved our family life. Cutting back on things so Georgia can have a Christian education was also paramount. Like too many young couples, we have some debt to eliminate. It's a slow process but it is progressing.

The deadly snare is when some families refuse to change their lifestyle and sink deeper into debt because they have to have the trips, the entertainment, and more. I'm not boasting, since Kim and I have been a bit unyielding at times. But the blessing is how God continues to mold and shape and nurture us into what we need to become.

So, I'll enjoy my soups for lunch and anything else low carb as we press on towards better financial and physical health.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

See You Around, Mike

Three weeks ago, I attended the memorial service of a dear Brother in Christ. Sunday, June 10, would've been his 56th birthday. I miss my friend. But what's sad is that I didn't miss Mike until he was gone. At least in the middle of the odd month, but definitely by the last week of it, Mike would always reach out to me with a request. It was usually to load a certain worship music video or some game show music. Sometimes, he needed some specific slides created or sound effects. Mike put a lot of thought into preparing the lessons. For certain lessons, Mike asked the kids to write something that was bothering them or something that was a sin. Then he had them take hammer and nail to that card and attach it to an old rugged cross. Mike often brought in props to physically connect the Bible stories to the kids. For example, when he dressed as an innkeeper and walked in a wheelbarrow full of fresh cow manure. He was adding the smell of a barn to the lesson just to help

May We Never Forget

On this 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm posting below a story I wrote on the 10th anniversary. These are my reflections on that day.  Looking at the first paragraph, it's interesting how times change. No one has asked me questions of where I was or what I was doing. I'm not sure if many of us have forgotten but more likely we're so very distracted. We've navigated almost two years of a pandemic that's taken and changed so many lives. We've navigated political and cultural changes poorly and emotionally to the point of creating more divisions.  We are not the country we were the weeks and months after 9/11. The bipartisan efforts then were refreshing. The amount of American flags flying proudly and in solidarity was inspiring. Today, it seems many despise their own country and its flag. But even this is not new. While she has stumbled over the years and will continue to do so - America will always be the most amazing country in the world. It

Reverse Discrimination of Christmas

With Christmas slowly fading from your memory, did you find yourself this year taking a stand for Christmas? I'm not talking about stealing the stand beneath the Christmas tree. Perhaps you missed it but 2009 was the year of sticking it to retailers who refused to display or say "Merry Christmas!" Boycotting secular businesses because they aren't promoting Christmas: righteous or ridiculous? I'll vote for both.