How does he do that?!

These last few posts have been an attempt to keep my mind off of the negative and trying to live normally.

For those of you who have known us for a while, you know that Shane and I have always struggled with our finances. When we were first married, we were making $125/week and rent was $425/month. We have dealt with periods of unemployment, disasters, and bad financial practices on both our part as well as lenders.

You also would know that I was in charge of the finances for years. I HATED that job, but it was something my husband was just not willing to take over. (and maybe I didn't want to give up that control too....) I prayed for God to give Shane the burden to take over the finances. They were just too much stress for me.

Finally, last year, we decided to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class. By God's grace, Shane had just starting to take over the finances and this was the perfect opportunity to get things on the right track.

Can I please just say, that our life has been changed. Not necessarily by FPU, definantly not because our income has increased. (I actually went from making close to $40,000/year to making $13,000/year) Our life has been changed because my husband is DARN GOOD at managing our finances. God put that burden on him to take them over, and He blessed Shane with the great ability make our money stretch.

I'm probably getting too personal, but I want to share a bit of our story with you. The glory goes to God for His provision, and for giving Shane this amazing ability to make our pennies stretch.

Since I lost my teaching job, we, as a family, have been living on a $2000/month deficit. We have been short $2500 per month. We have looked at those numbers over and over, and seeing that number in red is beyond freightening. Now that I'm not able to work as much, that number will become even higher.

Here is the amazing part. We are not behind on a single bill. NOT ONE! We were sent to collections for a bill from the hospital that was overlooked that totaled $30. Not a big deal.

Shane just informed me this morning that he had a surprise for me. I hate surprises, so demanded that he tell me what it is. He informed me that not only are we NOT behind on any of our bills, but we are going to be able to pay off one of our credit cards next week. He also informed me that we now have $800 in savings. WHAT?! How does that happen?!

I am amazed at how God has provided for us. I am amazed at the abilities that my husband has shown in managing our finances. I am amazed at the peace that our family has because I was able to give up that control and allow Shane to use his talents and abilities. It was a long hard road for me to get over my control issues with the finances. But since God has moved in our family, I am in awe of how things are working out.

Thank you God for being our one and only Provider. Thank you Shane for stepping up and taking control. Thank you for keeping me in line and accountable for my spending. Shane, you have taken a burden from me that has allowed me to respect and love you in brand new ways. Thank you God for giving me the freedom from the control I had to have over not only our money, but from my husband.

I'm living a new life now.

I'm free.