God's Goodness

It’s been a while since a post has been seen on this blog. I wish we both could write more, but it’s hard. We enjoying writing and enjoy telling people our story of paying off our debt. Unfortunately there just aren’t that many "interesting" things that happen to us. Paying off debt is rather boring, to be honest.

To give you a quick update, we are back to filling up our debt jar again! We are at about $390 as of last night! We cleaned a few houses 2 Saturday’s ago and got some cash for a wedding gift. We are getting ready to spend almost our entire upcoming Saturday cleaning houses. We both have the same reaction when we think about doing that, a sort of “Ugh” but we know we need to do. The sooner this debt is paid the sooner we can stop doing this! Also, Stephanie has been getting steady business with making those greeting cards and that is awesome to see.

This last weekend we went to a friend’s cabin with 2 other couples to escape the heat. It was the first time we have ever gone anywhere on a budget and we stuck to it! We brought up a certain amount in cash and spent every dime. It was rather freeing to know that we could spend money without worrying if we actually had the money. We got to fully enjoy a vacation with some good friends and money was of little concern since we had the cash ready to spend. Not only was it freeing, but it made the vacation that much better. Knowing that we didn’t have to do math in our head to make sure we had the money to go out to dinner. We just said, “Okay, this is how much money we have left” and that was that. We are looking forward to future vacations that we can bring even more money with us once we are out of debt!

I know that I have spoken before about getting motivated to pay off your debt. However, I didn’t realize how truly difficult it is. I’m not saying you shouldn’t pay off debt; I just want to make sure you are counting the cost of doing that. Stephanie and I are coming to the realization of how long this process will be. Honestly, it’s hard for us to see the finish line. We have so long to go. It’s easy to get discouraged and want to give up.

On the other hand, God is continually reminding us of the blessings we have. We have a roof over our head and food in our bellies. It’s funny because people always say that God promises to provide our basic needs, which isn’t exactly true. Whenever I think about “God’s provision” I wonder about those who die of starvation or live without a real home. America is blessed. We are blessed. However, God can take all of the comforts away in an instant if He chooses to do so. If our cars get stolen, our apt. burns down, and we lose everything; does that make God any LESS good? That is a question I constantly think about. I always thank Him for the blessing I have and call Him “good” because of those blessings. But isn’t His goodness constant no matter what circumstances we are in?

If we believe His goodness only goes as far as we are happy, then we will be very fickle with how we view God. Does God stop being good because our car breaks down or we are stuck in traffic? Is He no longer a “good God” when someone close to us dies or we lose our job? I think these are questions we need ask ourselves. We must realize that God is good because He is good and not because good things are happening to us.

For Stephanie and I, this is applied in paying off our debt. He didn’t stop being good when I got into student loan debt nor did it stop when we began paying it off and sacrificing our wants. In fact, His goodness is made even more obvious in this time for us because of how much we need Him. We need His promises of salvation and we hold onto the hope He offers us. This time of paying debt and sacrificing is so short compared to our whole lives, not to mention eternity. That is what you and I must remember when we go through those more difficult times. Our hope is eternity; not having things go our way on earth.