You Won!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Everywhere you look there is a flashing sign POWERBALL Winnings 385 Million, Mega Millions Winnings 259 Million, Win $1000 a day by entering TODAY!  What would you do if you won BIG! You can’t know unless you enter; at least that is what the advertisements say.

The financial crisis on so many families is devastating these days, so many families struggle to put a good decent meal on the table, provide footwear for each child, medical care, and transportation to school or work. It’s a day or in some cases minute by minute survival mode.  

We each have our own financial issues and some of us have taken the jar down and counted the change to see if we can pay a bill to keep the lights on, or to just get by for that day. The financial advisors say to reduce your budget give up magazines, give up that daily drive thru coffee, give up that newspaper every Sunday, reduce the number of channels on your tv network, cut back on your travel, or skip a shopping trip to the mall. Many of us may have already done that and those items would be luxury if we could afford just one. 

We have won, through the power of prayer, through each struggle or decision of what to do next, the comfort of prayer and the faith in God that He will guide us in His plan. It may not be easy but He is with us each step of the way.

I felt my prayers were answered when I sat down with a good friend and we started discussing expenses and how it continues to go up. She said she was worried she wouldn’t get to retire at all. I told her my home repairs, taxes, insurance were concerning me too for my future. It started as a thought when she said what if we shared expenses. It didn’t seem a serious conversation or option at the time; but as days passed and we visited it became a reality. It took months of frustrating, time consuming, exhausting physical and spiritual preparation. There was the garage sale, house transfer, many trips to the city mission as both of us were downsizing and combining our life collections. But the final result has been a solution that both of us have grown to love. We each have our own private space, but find it nice to have someone to talk out the daily woes, and share the household and lawn chores. The extra advantage is our pets get along and it enriched their lives too. Again God had a plan...

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven please help us to hear your message, to envision your plan and open our hearts and minds to new adventures. Guide us to helping others less fortunate than us, even when it seems we have nothing left to give. 

Lori Hood