The Abundant Wife

Grad School Graduation 2007

You may chuckle at my exuberance, but I’m sure you have all been excited at some point in time with the arrival of your refund.  Last January, I began to follow the blog Money Saving Mom on-line.  It wasn’t long before I noticed how often Crystal and others on her blog were referring to this guy named Dave Ramsey.  I started reading his thoughts on-line, and I was hooked.

Brad and I made it through 3 years in full-time ministry without missing a single payment on our truck, mortgage, or student loans.  Last year we resolved that we would not be prevented from doing ministry due to personal debt.  We decided to attack our debts with Dave’s Debt Snowball.  In February 2010 we paid off our truck.  We felt a great sense of relief, especially when half of Brad’s salary was cut the following month.

We continued to save our money, but at the end of February 2011, we were surprised when we had to replace the furnace in the home we still own (and rent out) in Maryland.  The furnace cost us $3500 to replace and install.  On top of that, Maryland car registration, licenses, certification, and repairs to our vehicles cost us over $2000.  We were so grateful that we had the money saved to pay for these unforeseen expenditures in cash!

We reviewed our finances in February.  When the dust had settled, we were still able to pay off my graduate school student loan in February 2011! In the 2 months since, we have been putting every extra penny into my undergraduate student loan.  With the arrival of the Federal Tax Refund in April 2011, we will finally be able to pay off this 8 year old loan!

It is hard to believe that in the past 15 months of living on half salary, being unemployed, and receiving a substitute teaching salary, we have been able to pay off a vehicle and two student loans! We are amazed at the Lord’s provision, despite difficult circumstances, to meet our every need.  We have even wondered if maybe God brought us home at this time, to allow us to serve him unhindered by the shackles of debt in the future.  As Dave Ramsey often says, “You can’t have it all, but you can have more than enough.”  We praise the Lord for meeting our every need!

I would love to hear your stories of God’s provision.  How has God met your financial needs this month?  This year?

Undergraduate Graduation 2003