Don't worry...be happy!

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up."

                                    ~Proverbs 12:25

My hubby works for UGA, and recently the state decided that their employees must take 6 days off without pay to offset their lack of funds. Since I do not bring in any money, we live very simply. We can pay our bills and grocery shop, and we take the kids to Burger King every once in a while. But we never have any money left over to save for future needs. We are OK with that, God has always provided. But with this new pay cut our budget is slashed by a whole $150.00 for the next 7 months. That's a lot for us. I was the epitome of the scripture quoted above. I couldn't sleep, as my brain wouldn't rest. I kept thinking of ways to save money to deal with this budget cut. I know God provides but I also know I have to do my "job" and manage what He gives us well.  So needless to say I was weighed down for quite a while.

But then one day kind words cheered me up just like the scripture says. I had kind words from friends - even friends that had no job for quite a while! They could have told me that I need to buck up and get a hold of myself, that having no job was far worse. but they did not. They empathized and offered me kind words of encouragement. What a comfort that was!

Then God provided free dog food from a friend. That was the first sign from God to tell me that HE sees our situation and provides. We went grocery shopping and got far more for the slashed budget than I would have dreamed! Another friend just passed clothes to us for the boys. Another provision from God! I can't wait to see what God continues to do, but one thing I know - HE WILL PROVIDE!

God CAN be Trusted

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yesterday Pastor Mel preached on this scripture. He was encouraging us all to totally give our cares and concerns to God and quit worrying about them. Most of us know this simple truth, but many of us do not practice it. Well, being the loving Father that He is, God decided to give the kids and I an object lesson yesterday to be sure we start really understanding how to Trust Him. See God knows me all too well, and knows I used to LOVE to watch our children's pastor do object lessons. I think it is so cool God gave me one!

Darin stayed home last night while the kids and I went to play practice. He was concerned that the truck was a little low on gas, so on the way I stopped to fill it up and discovered that I had left my wallet home. Right then I asked God to help me and make our gas last. On the way home the low gas light started blinking. Since we have only had this truck a week, we aren't sure how many miles we can drive when the light starts blinking, so I started stressing. I didn't even have any change to use the pay phone and I live 25-30 minutes from church. So I told the kids to pray. The gas gauge is a picture of bars stacked on top of one another, and we only had 2 bars left before the gas was totally out. Andy was asking me about the bars, and I said that we had three bars, now we have only two. Then it went back up to three bars! That's when Andy told me that he asked God to put the gas back up where it was and to make it last until we got home. We were so blessed! The kids we saying things like, "When you pray to God He answers," or "I trust God so I'm not going to worry. He will make the gas last." I tell you what, God DID make that gas last and the bar did NOT go back down to two bars! We made it home and we got to see just how much God looks after us!

Thank you God, you are so good! You give peace to your children and take our burdens so we don't have to worry! PRAISE YOUR NAME!