After The Injury: A Little Family Update
May 29th, 2008 | By Kendra
It’s been a couple of weeks since my last financial status update. The last time I wrote we had a little over $100 to our names! My husband has been out of work for almost 8 weeks now. I feel fortunate that we have his small business on the side, to help out a little. But it isn’t really a money maker. What he does is more like a ministry to the youth in the community. It barely brings in enough money to keep itself going, let alone pay for any of our personal bills. So, we’ve really just been scraping by.
I keep writing these updates because I want to share with everyone how the Lord gets us through this tough time. When things seem hopeless and impossible, He is faithful. I have not been sure how we would pay our bills since my husband lost his job, but I know that the Lord will provide, and as He does, I want to praise Him for it.
So, in the past couple of weeks we have had a little more money come in. Here is what we have received:
$75.99 from a refund.
$28.63 that I discovered had been hanging out in my Paypal account.
$180: my husband signed up to be a guinea pig for a sunscreen test.
$463 referral money from Revolutionary Money Exchange (BIG THANKS to Crystal for her help!).
$4.87 from a rebate check.
$250 we were able to pay ourselves from our part-time business.
So, that’s a little over $1000 that we’ve gathered up to help pay bills. I have to say that Satan has really been trying to get us down though. Our A/C went out almost 2 weeks ago, and it has been in the upper 80’s the past few days. It was so unbearable one particular day that we all had to go over to my dad’s house and hang out until it cooled down enough outside. The kids are running around in practically nothing trying to stay cool. We’ve discovered fleas in the house too. A stray cat had kittens under our house, and my husband thinks that that is where the fleas are coming from. We’re going to have to bomb the place. On top of all that, our van died while we were out yesterday. Fortunately someone jumped us off. We went to Walmart and had to buy a new battery ($70!). We spent another $40 today doing some other maintenance on the van. And, oh my goodness this really made me mad, last week I got my taxes back in the mail: I DIDN’T SIGN THEM!!! I couldn’t believe I did that!! I accidentally kept the signed copy for my records, and mailed the unsigned one. I was so upset with myself. We were really depending on that tax refund!
But, I have to look on the bright side of things. At least my power bill ought to be significantly lower next month! And at least it was only the battery that had to be replaced, and not something major (again!). At least my mother-in-law just happened to have some flea bombs handy, so we didn’t have to buy any. And, at least we didn’t have to pay taxes, and I will get a refund… eventually!
We’ve been very blessed to have a little money coming in here and there. We’ve had a hard time trying to claim unemployment. I’ll keep working on that. We’ve been sticking to a very tight grocery budget, and all of the couponing freebies have come in very handy! I am thankful that I am able to do my coupon shopping. My sweet Mother-in-law, and my step-mother have blessed us with a few good ol’ home cooked meals, so that’s been helpful! I was making broccoli and carrots for dinner tonight and my dear MIL called me and asked if I wanted some dinner. She already had it all packaged up for us, and insisted on bringing it right over. How sweet is that! Her meal was much better than my measly one!
So, anyways, that’s where we are. Getting by. I praise God that we have not had to borrow money, go on welfare, or had to pay our bills late. We’re doing alright. I can’t wait to get over this hill!! I thank all of you who have said a prayer for our family. I know it could be much worse than this, but we still need a prayer to help us get by!
Says:
Thank you for sharing your blessings in a time when your family is struggling-it is so nice to hear a positive spin even when things are not going really great. By sharing and giving God the glory you are knocking satan down! Hang in there and take comfort in knowing that you and your family are being lifted up in prayer
May 30th, 2008 at 12:22 amSays:
I am so glad to hear you being so upbeat about everything! God does bless us in our time of need! Things will get better, I will be praying for you and your family.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:27 amSays:
What a blessing to see how the Lord provides! We are just coming out of that same situation ourselves (beginning in December). My husband applied for a promotion at his work back in FEBRUARY; and just when we needed it, he found out that he got the job (in MAY!), he started this week. No late bills, still feeding the family, etc.. We’ve truly learned the meaning of relying on the Lord.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:48 amBlessings to you,
Laura
Says:
I am praying for your family! My husband and I found ourselves in a similar situation after he cut his finger off at work (he was a meat cutter)- it was a tough time for us financially, but God was so faithful.
~Kristy @ Homemaker’s Cottage
May 30th, 2008 at 3:20 pmSays:
I am so sorry to read what you’ve been dealing with. I had no idea. I’ll add you guys to my prayers. That nasty Devil has a way of kicking us when we’re down….it’s so hard to stay positive and remember God will get you through it.
By the way…..we battled fleas at our last place, from strays in the neighborhood. We got an all-natural spray at Wal-Mart. I forgot the brand. But it’s all natural…..you spray it on the floor and it works GREAT. Also smells good because it has mint and clove in it. We found it with the pet sprays and stuff.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pmSays:
Tiffany-
Thanks for the tip on the all natural flea killer. I have been hesitant to bomb the place, having kids and all. I’ll see if I can find this spray you suggested, and try it first. Thanks!!
May 30th, 2008 at 10:05 pmSays:
This post is encouraging to see how God is pulling you though, I remember my neighbors giving me thier goverment cast off canned food(salmon), and loving it, because it tasted better than nothing
May 31st, 2008 at 3:39 amalso fishing in a local pond for perch for meals, and He always provided.
And, church pot-luck leftovers were usaully given to us, YUM !
Hope your kids see your shining light through this, as I do, Holly
Says:
I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I read about your recent struggle with fleas, and thought I would share what I found out recently: Diatomaceous Earth is not harmful for kids or animals, but it kills bugs beautifully, from what I’ve read. We don’t have pets, but apparently, you can rub it in the fur/hair of your pet to kill bugs immediately. And it is probably easier and cheaper to apply than bombing your home. My husband just picked up 5 lb. from Lowes for less than $10. It might be worth your checking out… And I just now read the comment above by Tiffany. If that works well, go for it! Just thought I would share this as well.
A fellow believer
May 31st, 2008 at 3:24 pmSays:
Sorry that times are tough for you. I just wanted to warn you, twice we’ve bought car batteries from Walmart, only to have them die within a year, even though they were 5-year batteries. Keep your receipt if you still have it, just in case! They’ll replace the battery for free if it goes dead in the warranty time.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 pm