Being fully convinced of this, Andy and I have been giving above our tithe for a time now. Andy's work schedule bring varying income in, so we felt that this was best to accommodate for the times when we receive more and the times when we received less.
As a new teacher, I'm on the lowest pay bracket for the state. Andy's varying income helps the ends meet while we live mostly off my salary and pay for his seminary. After life with Maxwell (picture here is one of the last few we took of him) and his vet bills to give him a quality 8 months with us, we ate away at a chunk of our savings. So now that we have us, seminary, normal expenses, and 3 kitties to pay for, money suddenly is tight. No more orange juice in the mornings, just have water. Turn off the water in the shower while sudsing up. Make sure to turn off the lights when we're not in that room. Cut a meal a week and have omelettes instead. Little sacrifices, and little money saved. We looked at our three kitties, rescued from life outside, and started racking our brains for new homes for them. Andy looked at his tuition bill and realized there was no way he could pay for another semester. He'd have to go half-time instead of full-time, but there's the risk of losing his scholarship as it's contingent on full-time status.
With tears, many tears, I thought of these little sacrifices to cut our grocery bill and utilities, and now this steeper sacrifice of giving up our kitties and getting behind in seminary, I thought of those verses in Malachi and felt more than a little angry. Here we were, giving "more than enough" money back to the Lord, yet there's not enough for us. What happened to that "until there's no more need" that He promised?
But God's promise didn't specify that He would double our money for giving Him some money. He reminded me that both Andy and I have internships through our church that bring in additional money, not much, but more income than we had last year. Maybe God blessed us through these internships. We certainly aren't hurting--we can still pay our bills and have nice things.
I prayed that if there was any way to keep our kitties, God would show us. If there's any way to make a full-time semester of seminary work for this spring, would He please show us how? Help us be good stewards of what we have. Please give us wisdom in how to reduce our expenses.
Andy met with his parents and a brother for lunch yesterday. His dad tossed out the idea of looking at our health insurance. Hundreds are cut from my paycheck each month to cover Andy under my insurance, but Andy does not have regular prescriptions or doctor visits. We're still examining options, but it looks like we could save roughly $300 per month by changing how he's covered.
No anonymous check-in-the-mail, no audible words called down from heaven, no miraculous increase in our checking account. But we prayed for wisdom, and wisdom was what God shared.
$300 a month will allow us to replenish our depleted savings. We won't have enough in time for next semester's tuition, but Andy thinks he can work with his seminary so that he can pay off the next semester as he goes. Three kitties still need a lot of food and clean kitty litter, but with some careful saving, they can still have a home with us for now.
...how's that for an answer to those prayers for wisdom with our finances?
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