9/23/11

Grocery-shopping was the only significant expense on the 22nd. I have a $100 check to deposit but didn't get to it yesterday, hence the apparent drop in the total balance between yesterday morning and today. But all is well at the moment.

It is important to remember that God never promises to provide our needs days, weeks, months, or years in advance. He promises such provision day by day. So I shall live for today's assignments with what I have today.

Personal account: $53.41
Business account: $20.00
Savings account A: $20.07
Savings account B: $10.03
Cash in Wallet: $2.00

Start of 9/22: $105.51

9/22/11

Wednesday the 21st saw a couple minor expenses - gas, food on the go - and one business shipping expense. On the income side, there was deposit of my $71 paycheck from a local TV gig. So we crossed into the 22nd with this spread:

Personal account: $80.31
Business account: $20.00
Savings account A: $20.07
Savings account B: $10.03
Cash in Wallet: $2.00

Start of 9/22: $132.41

Thanks be to God for keeping us in the black another day!

Coming up we have car insurance that is overdue and about to be canceled, plus rent, accountant's fee from last year's taxes, and a couple minor bills. Prayers welcomed!

9/21/11

All right, at the open of September 21, 2011, we have the following with which to face the day:

Personal account: $40.87
Business account: $20.00
Savings account A: $20.07
Savings account B: $10.03
Cash in Wallet: $2.00

Start of 9/21: $92.97

I have a check for about $70 to take to the bank when it opens, so that will be a little help.

The Blog Unwritten

Well, of the multitude of things I assigned myself and others assigned for me, 2011 did not allow much blogging time. None of my blogs got much attention, including this one.

But given my current financial situation, I want to rev it up again for the original purpose it had a couple years ago of showing God's goodness in helping us survive financially. As I write this, I am aware of, literally, $75 in available funds for my family, with bills totaling almost $1,000 facing us within the next few weeks. I know God will provide, and this blog will be public testimony of that as often as I can.

Coming soon ...

An Introduction

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Colossians 3:17

Welcome to Colossians 3:17! I have several other blogs, including one that is specifically designed for devotional exposition of Bible verses; but I didn’t have any place to include other types of entries like praises for answered prayer, discussion of current events related to biblical topics, or other essays on Christian topics. So here it is.

In the days ahead, I imagine this blog covering a wide array of themes under the heading of Christianity; so come back and check it out. Hopefully I have the time to bring that vision to life fully.

Feel free to post comments, even disagreements as long as you keep it respectful. Offensive language and extreme rudeness will be deleted.

A Boost to Start

Sometimes God drops large amounts of blessing and relief in our laps all at once, like last October when He provided for us through the receipt of an inheritance from my Grandpa Johnson's estate. That money, along with the occasional odd job, lasted us all the way through to the late spring of this year.

And sometimes God doles out only and exactly what is needed at any given moment, as He has chosen to do from late spring to the present. The first of October saw one such little blessing arrive: Since my birthday on the 29th, I have received $450 in cash gifts, only $200 of which was actual "birthday present" money. As our bank account was down to less than $100, this will be very useful in putting a few of our credit card companies at bay for another month.

So this is a praise to God for the little provisions, the daily reminders that He truly provides, in His time and as needed, to those who love and serve Him.

An Introduction

Philippians 4:19 – But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Greetings and welcome to my blog of praise, prayer requests, and testimony to the greatness of the God of the Bible, specifically in his dealings with me and my family. We have much to be thankful for, and want to share it as an encouragement to other believers who may be struggling also, and as a witness to those who doubt or deny the existence of God. He is alive, and He is watching over His children as He promised.

The first edition of this blog originated to testify specifically to God’s financial provisions for my family (hence its title and foundational Bible reference) as we faced the painful reality that we had been trusting in credit cards for eight years instead of truly leaning on the Lord. While that will certainly continue to be a facet of this new blog, I want to open it up to all kinds of spiritual testimony and discussion in the days ahead. (Visit my blog The Bible Thumper for pure exposition of Bible passages in short devotionals.)

Once again, welcome, and I hope you’ll stop by now and then to share in my joy and perhaps let my own testimonies be an encouragement to you.

Of Mice and Men

Well, I had such plans to have an organized and transparent testimony regarding my finances this year. As you can see from the huge gap on the calendar between this entry and the last, that did not happen.

I am pleased to report, however, that God continues to provide. It comes in little bits, from unexpected quarters, but we have been in the black since 2010 began despite having no steady income or employment. And any missed credit card payments have been from my own oversight, not from a lack of funds. We've even managed to pay the rent once this year to our very patient landlord.

Then there is the testimony of our car, which I will detail in a separate entry tomorrow.

In all, God has been faithful, as He has promised. I look forward to sharing more consistently in the days ahead.

Don't Do It!

I'd like to follow up yesterday's entry with this question: What could you do with $5,000? Even as our government weakens our dollar more and more, that money could still go a long way for you.

Or you could just give it to credit card companies in the form of interest. I have a spreadsheet in which I list all interest and late fees for my cards, and the 2009 total amount sent to those companies was $5,112.71. That's just the interest. And that's not counting the interest on my wife's cards.

In other words, three of the four months I worked at Altrec were to pay the interest on credit cards. Three monthly paychecks ended up having nothing to do with food, clothing, or gasoline, let alone movies, eating out, or fun whatsoever. In fact, three monthly paychecks didn't even go to paying for the actual purchases on credit cards. Three monthly paychecks were devoted entirely to paying for nothing more than the "privilege" of having bought things when I "needed" (wanted) them. I'm sure with my wife's interest, just about every penny I earned at Altrec went to that purpose.

Young people out there: Don't Do It! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding! Your own understanding is temptable by the credit card companies! God has a far better plan! And I'm counting every loan "opportunity": Student loans, car loans, and so on. If God wants you in college, and you truly trust Him for that, you'll go in and come out debt free. If God wants you driving a car, and you truly trust Him for that, you'll get one with no loan and no monthly payments.

Yes, this goes against all of the mindset being marketed to you today. But let me tell you, as someone who finally realized it about a year ago: Trusting wholly on God's provision is such an amazing and relieving experience!

Enough said for now.

January 2010 Debt

I am still wrangling all of the things I want to do to start the new year, but I do finally have all the figures for January's debt spreadsheet. The total debt owed on January billing statements and loans from family and friends totals $44,880.41. This is a difference merely of about $325 from December 2009, which is a painful indicator of just how much interest charges eat up the money I do send to my creditors.

Let this be a lesson to you young'uns thinking of getting credit cards. Don't Do It! Start saying to yourself now: The Lord Will Provide. If it is something you truly need, something God has called you to do, He will make sure you do not go into debt doing it, providing you truly place all your trust in Him.

I was deceived in my thinking for ten full years that credit cards were a handy tool. But the sum total of the Bible's thoughts about going into debt are: Don't Do It! Do you truly trust in the Lord? Prove it by throwing out all credit cards and never using them again.