It was January 2011. A few months prior, my wife and I finished a popular financial planning course. I won't mention the name of it, for even though the course was fantastic and the message Godly, we seemed to be so far downhill in our finances that we really needed a spiritual intervention to help us out. At the time, I was just promoted to a supervisor position, which did come with a small raise.
We were majorly behind on bills, including both our house and van payments. Within two days, we watched our van being towed away and our home was foreclosed upon. Fast forward two weeks, we got the van back. Then, we set to work on getting the house back as well.
With a lot of prayer and the help from our parents, we did it. We were on a strict budget, my in-laws helped with food, and we were on a plan to get our lives back in order.
Then, my wife started to get sick. We knew things weren't right. By April 14, 2011, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and spent the rest of 2011 in Rochester, MN, at the Mayo Clinic.
On May 19th, the small town where we lived (and still do) had a benefit and raised quite a bit of money for expenses, both in travel for myself and our three kids as well as my wife. If what he had experienced earlier in the year hadn't happened, we might not have been prepared for the sudden influx of money. We used it frugally to last the rest of the year.
You see, we believe it was God testing us, blessing us by having both our van and house taken away. We didn't know it at the time, however, but nowadays we're thankful for Him. Like when the Lord tested the Israelites after fleeing Egypt, he tested them over and over again, to build up their strength. If we didn't experience the financial hardship, we not have used the money as frugally as we would have liked.
How does God test you? Be open for it. Be thankful for it.
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